Beautiful Disaster
by brookefan329
Summary: COMPLETE. Brucas AU. Brooke Davis has everything she ever wanted, money, popularity, great friends and an amazing boyfriend. What happens when she meet Lucas Roe, the boy that is nothing like no one she has ever met before?
1. Brooke Davis

Ok, all you really need to know about this story is that it's a Brucas AU. You do need to know that Nathan and Lucas are not brothers. Everything else should work itself out. Lyrics from Kelly Clarkson's Beautiful Disaster are used throughout this fic, they will be in italics any time they are used.

Chapter 1- Brooke Davis

Brooke Davis smiled with satisfaction as she walked down the crowded halls of Tree Hill High. She knew that as she passed the underclassmen girls they talked about her. They talked about how lucky she was, how pretty she was, how she had the most amazing clothes, the most amazing boyfriend, they all thought she had the most amazing life. Most of them would switch lives with her in a second if given the chance.

"Hey there boyfriend."

Brooke gave her usual greeting as she walked up behind her boyfriend Nathan Scott. Nathan was captain of the varsity basketball team and six feet two inches of absolute hotness. Brooke knew that the two of them made quite the pair. All of the girls wanted to be her, and all of the boys wanted to date her. It seemed only fitting that her boyfriend would be the male equivalent of her.

"Hey."

Nathan slammed his locker shut and turned to face her. It was clear that he was in an unpleasant mood.

"What's with the face?"

"I'm just having a really bad day. My dad was riding me this morning about the game the other night. Then, I come to school and half my teachers ride me because I'm behind on some schoolwork, because of basketball of course. Then Whitey pulls me into his office to tell me that if I can't bring up my grades, I can't play the rest of the season."

"It'll be okay, I'll talk to Hales, maybe she can tutor you or something. That should help."

Nathan laughed a little and Brooke shot him a look, "Sorry babe, I just forget that Haley's a tutor. I swear, she must be the only cheerleader on the face of the earth who tutors in their spare time."

Haley James had been one of Brooke's best friends for just about as long as she could remember. Haley, Brooke and the last three musketeer Peyton Sawyer were practically inseparable. They were all cheerleaders and when it came to popularity, they pretty much ruled the school.

Brooke laughed a little too, "Yeah, she certainly is one of a kind. Seriously though, I'll talk to her, I'm sure she'll help you out. It'll all be okay."

"I wish someone would tell that to my dad."

The two walked hand in hand towards the gym, and when they arrived Nathan bent down and kissed Brooke lightly on the lips.

"Have a good practice babe."

"You too, try to work out some of that anger. I'll meet you at your car afterwards."

With that Brooke disappeared into the girls' locker room, which was of course a buzz with the day's gossip.

Brooke wandered through the droves of half clothed girls until she arrived at her locker. She was immediately surrounded by Peyton and Haley, and a few of the other cheerleaders.

One of the cheerleaders, Bevin, started in on Brooke the second she was in earshot, "Perfect timing Brooke, we were just talking about the can't miss party Elise is throwing this Saturday night. Obviously I told her that you and Nathan will be there, you will be there won't you?"

Brooke nodded and laughed out loud, "Where else would we be?"

Brooke and Nathan never missed a party, especially a can't miss party. Brooke didn't even need to check with Nathan, she knew he'd be there.

Brooke reached into her locker and pulled out her practice clothes. As she pulled off her top, she remembered she had to talk to Haley.

"Haley, I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure, what?"

"Can you tutor Nathan, I guess he's having some trouble with a few classes? If it gets any worse he's off the team."

Brooke knew that that last tidbit would reel Haley in, as much as Haley might try and pretend the opposite, cheerleading was a pretty big deal to her. Without Nathan, the cheerleaders would be cheering for a losing team, and that was the last thing anyone wanted.

"Sure, tell him I'll call him later and we'll work something out."

Brooke nodded in appreciation then glanced over at Peyton, "Who died Goldilocks? You look upset."

It wasn't rare for Peyton to look all broody, the broody artist deal was her thing. Despite that fact, Brooke always tried to bring her out of it, she was a cheerleader after all. Who likes a broody cheerleader?

"There's just some stuff going on with Jake and Jenny, it's really not that big of a deal. Nikki's just being a bitch."

Jake had been Peyton's boyfriend for over a year, he was one of the few things in life that made her truly happy. Jake and his daughter Jenny were good for Peyton, there was no doubt about that. Peyton was good for them too, Peyton was the only person that Jenny knew to be her mother. It was too bad that Jake's psycho ex was always trying to make trouble for Jake and Jenny.

"Aw, I'm sorry. What happened this time?"

Brooke sat on the bench opposite her friend and listened as she talked. Haley sat down behind Peyton and started rubbing her back, trying to provide her friend some kind of comfort.

Brooke looked around the locker room and smiled, thinking to herself how lucky she was. This was her life and she couldn't imagine ever wanting more.


	2. Lucas Roe

Chapter 2- Lucas Roe

_He drowns in his dreams_

_An exquisite extreme, I know_

Lucas Roe made his way to the river court, thankful that he was finally on his way to the one place that granted him solace. For as long as Lucas could remember, whenever life got to be too much for him, he could go to the river court and unwind. Whether he was there shooting by himself, or playing with his buddies, life always seemed to make more sense while at the court.

Lucas had been playing basketball for as long as he could remember. He had always had a natural ability and an unwavering love for the game. Lucas had played on a team once, way back in junior high, but it just didn't feel right to him. Somehow, the politics of the game always managed to sneak in. Lucas loved the game, but hated the politics, so he quickly quit the team, realizing that all he needed to do was play, and the river court afforded him that luxury.

As Lucas walked towards the court he realized he was the last one to arrive. His buddies Skills, Fergie, Junk and Mouth were all there already.

Lucas had known these guys for what seemed like his whole life. They had always been there for him and he loved them for it. At school Lucas wasn't popular, in fact, he was hardly known at all besides those closest to him. Because Lucas and his mom didn't have a lot of money, it was difficult to gain any kind of popularity. Tree Hill was so run by money that it was disgusted Lucas. He knew that he would always be frowned upon because of where he lived and money he didn't have. That didn't bother him though, as long as he had his close friends he didn't need to be popular.

"We were about to start playing without you man, where have you been?" Skills asked as he knocked fists with Lucas.

"Sorry guys, I had to stop by my mom's café after school, she needed some help with a delivery. I'm here now though, let's shoot for teams."

Karen, Lucas' mother, had raised Lucas all on her own. Lucas' father had left them when Lucas was five years old. Owning her own café had always been a dream of Karen's, and it was a dream that had finally come true only a few years before. The café certainly wasn't a gold mine, but it provided Lucas and Karen with their basic needs.

"What's the deal Luke? I heard Whitey called you into his office after lunch." Fergie asked after knocking down a shot.

Whitey was the coach of the Ravens basketball team. He was an old and grumpy man who was usually quite rude to everyone, but for some reason when it came to Lucas the man had a genuine soft spot.

"Nothing big, just some player got suspended and Whitey has an opening in his line up, he wanted to see if I was interested."

"And of course you turned him down again, huh?"

"Yeah, I had to. I tried to play with those guys once and hated it. Why would things be any different now? If anything I think they'd just be worse. I don't really want to talk about it though, let's just play."

Whitey had asked Lucas to play for him on more than one occasion, but Lucas always turned him down. Lucas didn't want to lose his love for the game, and he knew that if he joined the team he probably would. Lucas thought that he had made Whitey understand that, but the man kept trying. Lucas had to give Whitey credit, he was definitely persistent.

After kicking the other teams' ass, Lucas headed home. He walked into his house and looked around, as usual it was empty. His mother was usually at the café pretty late.

Lucas headed towards the fridge and upon opening it, spotted a plate of food that his mother had left for him. Most of Lucas' nights were like this. He rarely got to eat with his mother. In the past Lucas would go to the café and try and they would try to eat together, but inevitably there was an interruption. Karen couldn't afford to hire a large wait staff, so most nights it was up to her to handle the majority of the work.

After pulling the plate from the microwave, Lucas headed into the living room and switched on the TV before settling back into the couch to eat his dinner. He flipped through the channels, and finally settled on some comedy show he watched from time to time.

When he had finished his dinner, Lucas headed into the kitchen to wash his dishes and then went into his room to do a little reading.

This was pretty much how every night of Lucas' life went. He'd go to the river court, shoot a few games, head home to eat alone, in front of the TV, and then he's settle in and read for hours.

Books had always been Lucas' passion. He loved how he could lose himself into a world created by whichever author whose work he chose to delve into. Admittedly, it was a nice escape from the world in which he lived. As much as he loved his friends and mother, Lucas felt as though something was missing from his life. He wasn't quite sure what it is, but he hoped that he would soon find it.

ooooOoooo

Brooke sat in class, twirling her hair around her pen and trying to pay attention to the teacher. It was pretty hopeless though, there was never a teacher who was capable of holding Brooke's attention for a whole period. Brooke went to classes because she had to, in order to cheer she had to attend her classes. If it wasn't for cheerleading, Brooke would never be in class, she was smart enough to do the work to pass on her own.

"Well class, you all knew it was coming soon, and well, today is that day. Here I have all the information you need for your mid semester projects. You will work in groups of two for this project, groups of two that I have assigned."

The teacher began to call out names in pairs and Brooke braced herself, she never got lucky when it came to teacher assigned pairings.

"And last, but certainly not least, Brooke Davis and Lucas Roe."

Brooke groaned inwardly. Lucas Roe was about as far from popular as someone could get. The only thing that bothered Brooke more than his unpopularity was the fact that he was drop dead gorgeous. Brooke had eyed him many times, but was always promptly reminded of how unpopular he was.

Lucas rolled his eyes at the teacher's pairing. Brooke had to be one of the least studious girls to walk the planet. Granted, Lucas didn't always excel in school, but he wasn't an idiot. And Brooke Davis, well, Lucas was pretty sure that she was an idiot. She was just another pretty face atop a hot body, a really hot body. Lucas stood up and decided he had better get this over with, bracing himself, he walked over to Brooke.

"I think it would be easiest if we just got together later and split the project in half, that way we can each just do our part. When we're done with our parts we can just meet again and put it all together. How does that sound?"

"Whatever. When do you want to meet? I'm really busy you know."

Lucas rolled his eyes yet again, "What about tonight?"

"I have practice until 7:00, I'm a cheerleader in case you didn't know."

"Oh I know, don't worry. How about 7:30 then? At the library?"

"Yeah right, like I know where the library is, and even if I did, I wouldn't be caught dead there, especially with you." Brooke ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbled something down quickly, then handed it to Lucas. "My house, 8 o'clock, see you then."

With that Brooke stood up and walked out of the room, not glancing back for a second. Had she, she would have seen a very agitated Lucas shooting her a death look. Lucas knew this was going to be one long and painful night.


	3. Princess

**Author's note:** Thanks to those who reviewed. The drama starts now…the first two chapters were just setting up the characters and their lives, friends, etc. Enjoy!

Chapter 3- Princess

_He's as damned as he seems  
And more heaven than a heart could hold_

As he pulled up to the address Brooke had provided him with, Lucas was amazed at the sheer size of her house. There certainly weren't any houses like that over in his neighborhood. Lucas had been well aware that Brooke's family had money, but he had no idea just the extent of it. Now though, after seeing the house, he had a pretty good idea just how well off the Davis' were.

Lucas slowly made his way towards Brooke's front door. He was not looking forward to these next few hours. Hopefully they could just get right to it, split up the project, and be on their separate ways. The less time Lucas had to spend around Brooke the better.

After ringing the doorbell, Lucas stood on the front porch waiting for Brooke to answer. He glanced at his watch and saw that he was right on time. He figured that she was making him wait just to make him squirm.

Lucas rang the doorbell again and time heard footsteps approaching. Laughing to himself, Lucas realized he wouldn't be all that surprised if a maid or butler answered. But no, it was Brooke herself who opened the door.

"Hi." Brooke said with sheer animosity on her voice.

Lucas walked in front of Brooke into entryway, "Nice to see you too Princess. Now lets just get this done, okay?"

"Sure, whatever. We can work in my room. I have a computer and everything in there. And don't call me Princess, I hate that."

Lucas followed Brooke as she headed up the stairs.

"You could be a little friendlier to me, after all, most guys would beg for the chance to be in my bedroom." Brooke stated matter-of-factly.

Lucas grunted a little with exasperation. He was not going to entertain little comments such as that one.

After making their way down a long, carpeted hallway, Brooke opened one of many doors and entered what Lucas assumed to be her bedroom. Lucas followed, pushing the door shut about halfway behind him, and realized that her room was just what he would expect it to be.

The walls were covered with photos of Brooke and her fellow cheerleaders and photos of multiple male celebrities, most of them shirtless. Lucas took note that there were also some pictures of Brooke and Nathan framed and placed beside her bed and on her dresser. The bedroom was mostly pink and purple and all of the furniture matched and looked fairly new. It was quite a contrast from Lucas' bedroom, all of the furniture had been purchased ages ago at garage sales, none of it matching. In the center of the room was what Lucas assumed to be a king size bed, he could only assume though seeing as how it was the largest bed he had ever seen, much larger than his own twin bed.

Brooke grabbed a notebook off of her desk and then sat down on her bed. "We might as well get started."

"Whatever you say Princess."

Brooke crossed her arms over her chest, "I said don't call me that."

Lucas pulled the chair away from the desk, turned it so it was facing the bed and sat down. He certainly wasn't going to join her on the bed, that would do nothing but illicit some other comment about how most guys would love to be in his place.

The pair began discussing how best to approach the subject matter at hand and seemed to forget about their mutual hatred for one another as they delved deeper into the task at hand.

After about half an hour there was a knock at Brooke's bedroom door, Lucas turned to look and assumed that the man standing there was Brooke's father.

"Brooke, can I see you in the hall for a minute."

Brooke nodded and got up off the bed, "I'll be back in a minute Lucas, don't touch anything while I'm gone."

Lucas tried to ignore the hushed voices in the hall, but it was impossible, he was curious to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry Brooke, but I won't be able to make it to your competition tomorrow as I had previously promised. I just received an urgent call from work and I must fly out of the country tonight. I'll be in Japan for roughly a week."

"But Daddy, you promised. This is a really big competition and mom can't be there since she's spa hopping in Paris."

"Brooke, this matter is not up for discussion, this is my job and it is what I have to do. This is how I earn the money that keeps this roof over your head and those designer clothes on your back."

"I know, I know." Lucas heard Brooke respond quietly.

"Now, now Brookie, no tears. I'll be back before you know it. I've left some money down on the counter should you need anything. I've left you a little extra so you can buy yourself something nice, perhaps a new pair of shoes or something."

"Thank you Daddy." Lucas could hear the tears behind her words.

"Well my cab should be here shortly and I'll be off to the airport. As I said, I shouldn't be gone more than a week. Goodbye sweetheart."

"Bye Dad, have a safe trip."

Lucas looked back down at his notebook, scribbling so it would appear that he hadn't been eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

Brooke took a moment to calm down before entering her room. Brooke walked back and sat back down on her bed. She looked over at Lucas, realizing that he had probably heard every word.

"I'm... um… sorry about that."

Lucas felt terrible for Brooke, despite the fact she was trying to smile and brush it off, her tear stained cheeks were a clear indication that she wasn't okay.

"It's no big deal."

Brooke nodded and the two got back to work in silence. After about twenty minutes or so, Lucas broke the silence.

"I know how it feels."

"What?" Brooke looked over at Lucas curiously.

"Having your father leave you like that. My father left me and my mom when I was just a kid. It sucked then and it sucks now."

Brooke's expression softened. "Yeah, it's not so much fun." Brooke paused and ran her hands through her hair, trying to gather her composure. "God, you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but somehow, it never stops bothering me. And he always does that, giving me money, telling me to go and buy something for myself. He acts as though a new pair of shoes makes up for me feeling like I sometimes don't have a father."

Brooke stopped herself and her cheeks flushed, she looked as though she wanted to say something more.

"What?" Lucas prodded.

"It's just, I've never told anyone that before. I guess I'm a little embarrassed."

"What do you mean you've never told anyone that? What about your boyfriend Nathan?"

"Me and him, we're not like that. We don't talk about stuff like that."

Lucas was confused, why would she not talk to her boyfriend about what seemed like a pretty common happening in her life?

"Stuff like what?"

"Like serious stuff, how we feel about things. We aren't like that."

"Then what are you like?"

Brooke leaned back into the pillows lining her headboard and appeared to be deep in thought. She was trying to figure out how best to answer that question without making it seem as though her relationship with Nathan wasn't completely superficial.

"We go to parties together. I cheer for him at games. We walk around school together, that kind of stuff. That's our relationship, it's the way we've always been. The serious stuff doesn't sneak in."

"Kind of seems like it's just for show then. How long have you been together?"

Lucas hoped that she wouldn't think he was prying, but the Brooke Davis that he was talking to now wasn't all that bad. It was as though she had let down the walls surrounding her, as though she had taken off some kind of mask that she wore to hide her insecurities.

"Almost two years."

"Are you happy with him?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? We'd been friends forever. It just came to a certain point where we were supposed to be together."

"Says who?"

"Says everyone. My parents, the kids at school, it's just the way it is."

"But it isn't the way it has to be, not if you're not happy with it. I mean, don't you ever want more? Don't you ever want someone who you can talk to and confide in? Someone to share your darkest secrets with?"

"I don't know, sometimes I guess. I feel like I shouldn't complain though. I mean look at my life, I have so much. It almost doesn't feel right to complain about that."

Lucas thought about that for a minute and then shook his head a little.

"I don't know, I guess I think that it doesn't matter how much you have if you aren't happy. Happiness is the one thing you should always have."

"Yeah well it's not always that easy." Brooke glanced over at the clock, "We really should finish up here, it's getting pretty late."

Lucas nodded and looked down at the notebook in his lap, "Maybe we don't need to split this up, maybe we could just work on it all together."

"I would like that." Brooke softly responded.

Lucas smiled and stood up, Brooke followed and the two headed downstairs.

"Well Brooke, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"No, it wasn't."

"Goodnight Brooke."

Lucas started to walk out the door when Brooke stopped him, "Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind not telling anyone the stuff we talked about?"

"It's our little secret."

With that Lucas smiled and headed down the driveway to his car. Once he was inside he leaned his head back against the seat and smiled. He had just spent hours with Brooke Davis and he was smiling. She was nothing like he thought. It was obvious that Brooke was smart, even though she didn't like it to show. She was sensitive, she liked to show that even less. But for some reason she had shown it to Lucas. He hated to admit it, but the Brooke Davis he saw tonight, well he liked her, really liked her.

Brooke wanted more, whether or not she was willing to admit it, she wanted happiness. Lucas could sympathize with that feeling.

Brooke leaned against the door after closing it behind Lucas. She still felt a little embarrassed, having opened up to him like that, but it felt good. She felt good. It was nice to not just sit there and wallow in her own misery when her father left, but to instead talk about it. And Lucas, well he understood her, he knew how she felt.

Brooke had confided in him like she hadn't anyone else, and to think, just hours before she had loathed him.

Brooke was torn from her thoughts when she heard her cell phone ring. She pulled it from her pocket and looked down at the caller ID.

'Oh yeah, Nathan…'


	4. It's Never Easy

Chapter 4- It's Never Easy

_And if I try to save him  
My whole world could cave in_

Brooke gazed over at Lucas and smiled. The two were working on their project for the fourth night in a row. Every night Brooke began to feel more and more attracted to him. It was hard for her to believe, Lucas was nothing like the usual kind of guy Brooke went for, but that didn't stop the way she felt.

Lucas glanced up for a minute and saw Brooke looking at him and smiling.

"What's on your mind pretty girl?"

Pretty girl was a term of endearment Lucas had bestowed upon Brooke, after the whole Princess fiasco.

"Nothing really, just thinking."

"About what?"

Brooke paused before answering. She wasn't sure if she should really say what was on her mind. She was well aware that if she was honest and told Lucas her feelings, it would open up a whole can of worms that she wasn't sure she was ready for.

"I don't know, just stuff."

"Okay," Lucas started as he slammed the textbook in his lap shut, "Spill."

"I don't know, I was just looking at you and thinking how glad I am that I've gotten to know you as much as I have these past few days."

"I'm glad about that too. You really are amazing Brooke."

Brooke blushed, "Thanks."

The two looked back down at the books in their laps and resumed their work, or at least pretended to. Lucas couldn't focus at all on the task at hand. All he could think about was Brooke. As a matter of fact, the last few days she was all he could think about.

It was crazy really, a week ago Lucas knew nothing about Brooke at all. He knew she was rich and popular and a cheerleader, but beyond that, nothing. He really hadn't cared to find out either. But now, he couldn't imagine not knowing. There was so much that lie behind those green eyes, and Lucas knew he had only really seen the surface of it all so far.

"Lucas, what about this right here?" Brooke pointed to something in her book, "This quote goes with our argument perfectly.

Lucas leaned in to look, his face just inches away from Brooke's. He was so close he could smell her perfume, it was absolutely intoxicating. He tried to head coursing through his body as he read the quote she had pointed out.

"That's great…."

Lucas' voice trailed off as he raised his eyes to look at her. Once their eyes met there was a force between them that neither could deny. Lucas moved in closer until his lips softly grazed Brooke's.

Brooke seemed stiff at first, but then the kiss softened. Lucas could feel her succumbing to him and he deepened the kiss, begging his tongue be granted entrance, which she allowed.

Suddenly Brooke pulled away and flew off the bed.

"I'm sorry, that shouldn't have happened. Nathan, I can't believe I just did that to Nathan."

Lucas got off the bed as well and stood in front of her. 

"Can you really deny that there's something here? Something between us? Because I can't. I felt it that first night I was here. And Brooke, I know you feel it too. I know that you felt it in that kiss."

"I did, I felt it. That's the problem. I have a boyfriend but you're the person that I think about all day. I can't wait to meet with you each night. Just talking to you is great. And now this, that kiss, it made my knees go weak. That doesn't change anything though, that doesn't change the fact that I have a boyfriend."

Lucas shook his head, "Some boyfriend. You can't even talk to him, confide in him. That's not a relationship, it's just for show and you know it."

"So what, you want me to just break up with him and be with you? Even if I did break up with him I couldn't just be with you, you know that."

"I do? Really? I think you're wrong there, I don't know. Tell me Brooke, why can't we be together?"

Lucas was getting angry and Brooke knew it. She crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to figure out what to say, how to respond to his question. She knew that he knew what she was thinking, but he wanted her to say it.

"Because we're too different. You're not the kind of person I'm supposed to be with."

"Who says?"

"Everyone. My friends, my parents, everyone. I'm supposed to be with someone like Nathan."

"What do you mean Brooke? Just say it. Someone who's rich. Someone who's popular. Is that it? I'm not good enough for you am I?"

"It's not like that."

"Then enlighten me Brooke, what's it like?"

"Lucas what do you want me to do? Break up with Nathan and be with you? Don't you get it, if I do that then I give up everything, my whole life. My friends wouldn't talk to me anymore, my squad wouldn't respect me, my parents would just about go off the deep end. I just don't think that I can do that, I don't think I can risk all that, for..."

"For someone like me right?"

Lucas just stood in front of her, shaking his head. Maybe she really wasn't much different than he had thought.

"You know what Brooke? I think we go back to the original plan, I'll do my part and you'll do yours. We'll meet once we're done and put it all together. Then we'll never have to see each other again."

"No Lucas, that's not what I want. Why can't we keep things the way they are? Us working together and being friends, getting to know eachother."

"It's too late for that Brooke. You already told me what you want, or don't want for that matter. So this is me making sure that what you don't want doesn't happen."

Lucas picked up all of his books and threw them into his backpack. He headed for her bedroom door, turning before he walked out.

"Good bye Brooke." And with that, he was gone.

Brooke collapsed on the bed after he slammed her door shut behind him. She began to cry, softly at first, then harder and harder. Sobs wracked her entire body. All she could feel was an overwhelming sense of loss. Not loss for something that she had and was now gone, but loss because she knew that now she would never know what could have happened between her and the boy with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.

ooooOoooo

Brooke walked down the hallway at school with Peyton when she saw him. He was at his locker, talking to some of his friends. She prayed he wouldn't see her, but her prayers were not answered. He looked up just as she walked by. He didn't say anything, he didn't wave, or even smile, he just stood there watching her walk by. Their eyes met for a brief second but then she saw the hurt in his eyes and looked away.

"Seriously, Brooke, what's going on with you? The brooding thing is my bit."

Brooke looked at Peyton, wondering if she could tell her. Wondering what would happen if she told her about the night before, with Lucas. If she told her about the kiss that made Brooke weak in the knees, would Peyton understand?

"I don't want to talk about it here."

"Fine, then let's go."

"Go where?"

"Wherever you'll talk about this."

Brooke bit her lip and then nodded, knowing that if she couldn't tell her best friend then she couldn't tell anyone. Peyton wrapped her arm around her and led her towards the back door of the school.

Peyton drove them back to her house, knowing it would be empty and free of interruption. It was just Peyton and her dad, her mother had died when she was very young, and Peyton's dad traveled a lot for work.

Brooke and Peyton headed up the stairs to Peyton's room and settled in on her bed.

"Brooke talk to me, what happened."

Before she could even find the words, Brooke's eyes filled up with tears, they spilled over onto her cheeks. Peyton reached for the tissue box on her bed side table and gave the box to Brooke, who willingly accepted.

"God Peyton, everything's so screwed up."

"What's screwed up Brooke? I didn't even know anything was going on. These last few days you've seemed happier than usual."

"I have been." Brooke diverted her glance away from Peyton. "I met someone."

"What?"

"I met someone. Someone I have feelings for."

"Feelings, what kind of feelings?"

Peyton braced herself, she knew what was coming.

"Feelings feelings, like the feelings I'm supposed to have towards Nathan."

"Supposed to have? What do you mean Brooke? I thought everything was fine between you and Nathan."

"That's the problem. Things are always fine with me and Nathan, just fine, that's all. They're never great, they're never bad. They don't change. I don't love him Peyton, you have to have known that."

"I guess I never really thought about it. Brooke, look at me." Peyton paused until Brooke's eyes met hers, "Do you love this other person?"

"Not yet, but I think I could."

"Then break up with Nathan. I mean yeah, it will be hard, but if you think there's someone else you should be with…"

Brooke interrupted her, "It's not that easy. This person, I don't know what I could just be with them."

"Why not?"

"He's not one of us Peyton. I mean, how would it look if I dated someone who wasn't one of us, me, the homecoming queen, the prom queen, head cheerleader, if I dated a nobody?"

"All that matters is that he's somebody to you."

"No, you know it's not that easy. You know how people talk. I couldn't do it. I'm not brave enough to."

Peyton nodded, she understood what Brooke meant. Tree Hill was nothing but a popularity contest, and this contest was one that Brooke always won. Dating someone from outside their elite group wouldn't be acceptable, Brooke would be banished, Peyton knew it just as well as Brooke did.

"Okay, so you don't date him. But maybe you need to break up with Nathan. I mean, is it fair to him or you if you stay with him when you want to be with someone else?"

"No, it's not. I know that. It's just, well, it would be so hard to break up with him."

"I know, but just think about it. Anyways, who's the guy?"

"Lucas Roe. You probably don't know him."

"I think I know of him. His mom owns that café right?"

"Yeah, Karen's Café."

"I know who he is. How did you even meet him?"

"We got assigned to do a project together, the rest is history."

"I really don't know what to tell you Brooke. Just think about it, I know dating Lucas would be a huge big deal, but think about the Nathan part, okay?"

Brooke nodded and leaned back against the headboard, deep in thought. With all honesty, she didn't think she could do it, she didn't think she could break up with him. After all, she was Brooke Davis and he was Nathan Scott and they were supposed to be together forever.


	5. It

Chapter 5- It

_Just ain't right,_

_Lord it just ain't right_

Brooke couldn't stop thinking about it. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't escape thinking about him, about Lucas. He had been the only thing on her mind for the last few days. It amazed Brooke that she had gone through more than three years at Tree Hill High and she'd only seen Lucas a handful of times, but now that she wanted nothing more than to avoid him, he was everywhere.

Brooke felt terrible for the things she had said to him. The truth of the matter was, she never realized just how superficial her world must seem to the outsider. And now that she had shared her qualms about giving all of that up with an outsider, she was beginning to see for herself just how superficial it really all was.

Being queen of Tree Hill was simply the way it had always been for Brooke. From as early on as she could remember Brooke had always been one of the most popular girls at school. Truth be told, she loved it, she always had. She loved walking down the hall and having other girls worship the ground she was walking on. Brooke just wasn't sure she could give it all up, even for Lucas.

It was hard to deny that there was something real between her and Lucas. No matter how hard she wished whatever it was between them wasn't going to just go away. Even though they had had that knock down drag out fight, when Brooke passed him in the hallway she could feel it, she could feel the electricity between them. Somehow, he possessed the power to make her knees go weak with only a glance. And that kiss, well that was proof enough.

That kiss had been the most amazing thing Brooke had ever experienced. She honestly didn't know that a kiss could feel like that, that a kiss could make her feel like that. It had though, and it was wrong. It was wrong because of Nathan. Even though what Brooke and Nathan had might not have been the be all and end all of romances, it was just understood that they shouldn't go around kissing other people.

Brooke knew what she had to do, but that didn't make it any easier. With all honesty, she had never even thought about breaking up with Nathan. Now though, she knew that she had no other choice. Whether or not she could put all of her qualms aside and actually date Lucas, that hadn't been decided yet. What had been decided was that Brooke felt so strongly for Lucas that it was definitely wrong for her to stay with Nathan.

On her way over to Nathan's she prepared herself for what she was going to say to him. Brooke wasn't all that sure that the kissing Lucas part would bother him. Nathan had never been all that possessive. Sure, it might bother him that some nobody was making out with his girlfriend, but Brooke was pretty sure that he wouldn't be angry at her. Brooke did know that the breaking up part would bother Nathan. After all, his parents were just as in love with the concept of Brooke and Nathan spending their lives together as were Brooke's parents. That and Nathan might not like it when word spread around school that Brooke broke up with him, after all, that wouldn't do much to help the captain of the varsity basketball team image he had come to know so well.

Taking a deep breath Brooke decided it was time to own up. It was time to stop debating the what ifs and just get it over with. Brooke reached out and knocked on Nathan's door, waiting for him to open it so she could own up to her indiscretions.

"Brooke, hey, what's up?"

Brooke looked curiously at Nathan, something seemed off about him. It almost seemed as though he was uncomfortable that Brooke was there.

"Nathan, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Brooke, it's fine."

"Okay, well, can I come in? I need to talk to you."

"Um, yeah, sure. Come on in."

Nathan stepped aside, allowing Brooke to walk inside. She headed up the stairs to Nathan's bedroom. When Brooke opened the door to his bedroom, she was shocked at what she saw.

"Haley?"

"Brooke, hi. Nathan and I were just studying."

Brooke knew she had no reason not to believe that anything else was going on between the two of them, but she did. Call it a feeling but she was pretty sure that this was a little more than a study session. Most times Brooke would have wanted to rip Haley to shreds, throwing the word betrayal at her, but that wasn't what Brooke wanted to do now. In fact, she did the only thing she felt compelled to do, she laughed.

"Brooke, I can explain." Nathan said from behind her.

"Nathan, you really don't have to, it's okay."

"No, I want to. It's just that Haley had been tutoring me and well, we've kind of started to fall for each other. I wanted to tell you, Haley wanted to tell you, and we were going to, we just weren't sure when. Please, don't be angry with me, and especially her."

"Really, I'm not. It's okay. I have to tell you something too Nathan, I met someone else. It's all really new, and well, I don't even know that it'll go anywhere, but it still seems wrong for me to be with you. I mean, what we had was great Nathan, but I think that we both know that there's more out there."

Nathan nodded in agreement, "Yeah, there is. You're right Brooke, it has been good. But there is more out there, and in fact, I think that my more is sitting right here." Nathan gestured to Haley.

"Brooke, I'm really sorry…" Haley started.

Brooke put a hand up interrupting her, "Stop Haley. Don't say another word. It's okay. You're one of my best friends and you've never done anything to hurt me, I know that you never purposely would. I'm not angry. I know you would have told me. It's really okay. I want you guys to be happy."

Haley walked towards Brooke and the two hugged, "Thanks Brooke, for understanding."

"Really, I do. It's okay. Nathan and I just didn't have it."

"It?" Nathan asked curiously.

"Yeah, it, love, the it everyone looks for."

Nathan nodded in understanding, "Yeah, we didn't have it."

Brooke nodded and then walked out of Nathan's room, closing the door behind her. She started down the stairs feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Brooke really didn't know what to do with herself at that moment. Then she knew, she knew where she had to go, who she had to find.


	6. All or Nothing

Chapter 6- All or Nothing

_Oh and I don't know  
I don't know what he's after_

_But he's so beautiful_

_He's such a beautiful disaster_

Brooke called Lucas' cell phone several times but had no luck reaching him. She didn't know where he lived exactly so she couldn't try going there, but she had tried his home phone number and received no answer. She knew her best bet was to figure out where this river court place he was always talking about was, she was fairly certain that he was there.

Brooke drove all down the riverfront until she spotted it. It was basically a slab of cement with a hoop at either end. There wasn't much else to it. Brooke drove onto the grass and pulled up near the court. She got out and headed over to a bench, she sat down next to a brown haired boy.

"Hey, I'm Brooke."

"I'm Mouth."

"Nice to meet you Mouth."

"So you're here to see Lucas?"

"How'd you guess?"

"By the way he's looking at you."

Brooke looked over and saw Lucas staring at her curiously. He had seen her as soon as she pulled up and was shocked that she was there. Not only had he never told her where exactly the river court was, he didn't expect to see her ever again, not after the fight they'd had. It took all Lucas had for him to look away and focus on the rest of the game.

Brooke watched anxiously as Lucas played basketball with his friends. Brooke had never seen him play before, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that he was really good. She wondered why it was that he didn't play for the Ravens.

Lucas walked over to Brooke, dripping in sweat, after his team had won.

"Brooke, hey, this is Fergie, Skills and Junk." Lucas pointed to each as he introduced them, "Guys, this is Brooke."

"Damn dog, she's even hotter than you let on."

Brooke laughed, "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." She playfully winked.

"Hey now you two, I'm right here!" Lucas cried, pretending to be angry but laughing just the same.

"Well man, we're out." Skills held out his fist, which Lucas promptly knocked with his own, "See ya later dog. And Brooke, feel free to come cheer for me anytime."

Brooke laughed and nodded.

With that the other boys left, leaving Brooke and Lucas alone.

"I was surprised to see you here." Lucas said quietly.

"I know. I wanted to tell you something. I, uh, broke up with Nathan."

Lucas smirked, "So what?"

"So what? I did that for you, because of you. It wasn't fair for me to stay with him when I feel this way about you."

Lucas' expression softened a little, "How did it go?"

"It was okay. Turns out he likes my best friend Haley, so really it wasn't any big deal. I actually laughed when I found out about the two of them, made me feel a lot less guilty."

Lucas nodded in understanding, "So then pretty girl, where do we go from here?"

"Lucas I don't know." Brooke started as she walked over to sit back down on the bench. "I mean, obviously I want to see what happens with us, but I guess I'm just not sure if I want the whole world to know."

"That's the difference between you and me Brooke, I want everyone to know and you want no one to know. I get it, I get that we're different. We obviously don't run with the same people at school, but why does that have to matter?"

"It just does matter Lucas. Really, it does. I'm going to have to deal with enough gossip surrounding me and Nathan breaking up, I'm not sure if I can deal with the backlash of you and me dating as well."

"Who says anyone is even going to care?"

"Lucas, it's me, people always care. If I wear a pair of shoes that doesn't match perfectly with my outfit people care, I can't even imagine what they would say if I started dating someone from outside my circle."

"Why worry about them though? Why can't we just worry about you and me?"

"Because I can't do that Lucas. I just can't. I do worry about what other people say. That's just how I am. Its how I've always been. Can't you just accept that Lucas? I mean come on, I don't know what you want from me. I broke up with my boyfriend for you, isn't that enough?" Brooke looked towards Lucas, pleading with her eyes that he would say it was enough.

"What do I want? I want us to be together, all the time, not just when others aren't around. I want to walk down the hall holding your hand. I want to walk up to your locker and kiss you. I want the whole world to know how much I care about you Brooke. I don't want to hide it. That's what I want, does that make sense?"

"It's just more than I can give to you, I'm sorry. I don't understand why we can't take this slow. Baby steps ya know? Let me deal with this one step at a time."

Lucas sat there shaking his head, wondering what he could do to get through to her. He didn't know what it would take to make Brooke understand how he felt.

"Okay Brooke, let's pretend for a minute. Let's pretend we do this your way, we start slow. We just hang out outside of school and whatever. So then what happens in school, when we see each other? I am supposed to just ignore you?"

"No, you don't have to ignore me, you just can't…" Brooke trailed off.

"Can't act like we're dating, right?"

Brooke slowly nodded, "I'm sorry Lucas. I'm just not ready for everyone to know."

"Well then, if you're not ready for everyone to know, I guess I'm not ready for you. Sorry Brooke."

Lucas stood to walk away, Brooke watched him.

"Lucas, wait."

Brooke walked over to him and stood on her tip toes and reached behind his neck, lowering his head to her so she could reach his lips. She kissed him softly at first, and then deepened the kiss. Slowly she pulled away and looked up at him.

"Can you really tell me you can pass that up?"

"Yeah Brooke, I can. It's this easy, now listen close. You want to know what I want? All or nothing. So tell me, what's it going to be? All or nothing?"

Lucas stood there looking at Brooke, waiting for her answer. She said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes, her silence answered his question.

Lucas nodded, "Just like I thought, nothing."


	7. Whenever You Call

Chapter 7- Whenever You Call

_He's magic and myth_

_He's strong as what I really need_

Brooke anxiously looked around the party. For some reason it felt as though all eyes were on her. Typically, that wouldn't bother Brooke, but this was the first party she had gone to without Nathan right by her side.

Heading towards the kitchen, Brooke figured a drink would help her relax. Spotting the keg, Brooke walked over, relieved to see Ethan from the basketball team filling a cup.

"Hey Ethan."

"Brooke, hey, want some?" He asked, pointing towards the keg.

Brooke nodded, "Thanks."

"Good party huh?"

"Yeah, it seems so." Ethan held a cup out for Brooke, "Thanks."

Brooke followed Ethan out of the kitchen into the living room where they sat on the couch and began talking. A few drinks later, Ethan asked Brooke if she wanted to step outside for some air. Brooke nodded and followed him out to the deck.

Brooke looked out at the ocean before them, "It's gorgeous out here, isn't it."

"Yeah, it is." As Ethan spoke he began to lean in towards Brooke.

It took Brooke a second to realize what he was doing, but as soon as she did she pulled away.

"Ethan, what are you doing?"

"Oh come on Brooke, you know you want me. You've been flirting with me all night."

Brooke's eyes widened in disbelief, "No, I haven't. We've been talking, as friends, nothing more."

Ethan looked angrily at Brooke, "All you girls are alike. You're all such teases." Ethan began walking towards Brooke as he spoke, until she was pinned between him and wall.

"Stop, you're kind of freaking me out."

"Freaking you out? Really? All I'm doing is going after what you were offering up."

Brooke tried to dart away from him, but he put his arms up on either side of her, trapping her even more. She wasn't sure what to do, but knew she had to act quickly. He was starting to move in to kiss her again.

She mustered up all her courage and brought her knee up hard into his balls, causing him to recoil in pain, "You bitch!"

Brooke started to run away, but Ethan reached out and grabbed the heel of Brooke's shoe. She fell to the ground and Ethan crawled over so he was on top of her. Pulling up her dress he began to inch his hand up her thigh. She kicked at him furiously, screaming, hoping someone would hear her. The music inside was so loud though, no matter how loud she screamed she went unnoticed. Ethan put his hand over her mouth, hoping to quiet her down. Brooke bit down on his hand as hard as she possibly could. Ethan screamed, pulling his hand away. As he pulled away Brooke nailed him with her stiletto clad foot tight in his stomach. He curled up in pain and Brooke got up, running down the steps frantically onto the beach.

Brooke kept running until she was sure he wasn't behind her. Then she collapsed on the sand in tears. She couldn't believe what had just happened. All she wanted to do was go home. She wanted to be safe in her own bed.

Pulling out her cell phone she dialed Haley's number, but Brooke went right into voicemail. Brooke hung up and dialed Peyton's number. The phone rang and rang until Peyton's voicemail picked up. Frustrated Brooke hung up, wondering who else she could call.

Taking a deep breath she realized she knew who to call. Brooke knew there was one person who would come for her. Slowly, she dialed the phone number, holding her breath as it rang.

"Hello."

"Lucas." Her voice wavered as she spoke.

"Brooke, what's wrong?"

"I was at this party, and this guy, he…." Brooke began crying as she tried to recount the earlier events.

"Brooke calm down, it's okay. Where are you? I'll come get you."

"I'm on the beach, a little ways down from Tim Smith's house."

Lucas tried to think, Tim, he knew where Tim lived. Lucas had delivered food there before, "Okay, I know where that is. I'll be there as soon as I can. Just sit tight Brooke, I'll be right there."

Lucas hung up and Brooke sat there, hugging her knees to her chest, trying to calm herself. He'd be there soon. All she had to do was sit tight.

Ten minutes later Lucas pulled up to Tim's house, he wove his way through the party searching for the door to the back. Finally he found it and he ran down the steps onto the beach. He looked from side to side, unsure as to what way she went. When he looked to the left he thought he spotted her. As he got closer he saw that she was rocking back and forth, no doubt trying to calm herself down.

"Brooke, are you okay?"

Brooke shook her head, tears streaming down her face, "No."

Lucas sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms. "Shhh, it'll be okay. I'm here Brooke, no one will hurt you."

Lucas just held her, telling her it would be okay. Finally, her crying slowed and she looked up towards Lucas.

"Thanks for coming."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"It all happened to fast, I was talking to him and then we went outside for air. He tried to kiss me and I kneed him in the balls, I tried to get away but he grabbed the heel of my shoe. I fell to the ground and then he was on top of me. I bit him and kicked him in the stomach. Then I ran away."

Lucas' eyes widened in shock as she recounted the earlier events, "Who, who did this to you?"

Brooke looked at Lucas. She could see the rage in his eyes. She knew that if she told him he would run back to Tim's looking for Ethan. Brooke knew a fight would ensue. She didn't want that, all she wanted was to go home.

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that I want to go home. Please take me home Lucas."

"Brooke, I'd really like to know who did this to you."

"Please Lucas, just take me home."

Lucas thought about it for a minute, he felt as though he should find out who did this. It felt like he should defend Brooke's honor, but it was clear that that wasn't what was important right now. He knew all he should do was take her home.

"Okay."

Lucas stood and extended his arm to pull Brooke up. She slowly rose until she was by his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to him. Slowly, they made their way to the car.

On the car ride to Brooke's, Lucas kept trying to come up with something to say, something that would take Brooke's mind off of the earlier events. But every time he looked over towards her all he could think about was how scared she looked. His heart broke for her and he could think of nothing else besides making sure she was safe.

When they pulled up to Brooke's house, Lucas got out and walked over to the passenger side. He opened the door for Brooke and helped her out. Once again he wrapped his arm around her and guided her towards the front door.

Lucas didn't ask if he could come in, he knew that she wanted him to. He guided Brooke up the stairs to her bedroom where she immediately crawled into her bed, underneath the covers.

Lucas walked over to the bed and pulled the blankets up so they came to Brooke's chin. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, "Sleep tight pretty girl."

He turned to leave but Brooke stopped him, "Stay with me Lucas."

"Are you sure?"

Brooke nodded, "Hold me Lucas. Make me feel safe."

Lucas walked over towards the bed and lay down on top of the covers. Brooke edged her way over towards him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her.

"Now I can sleep." Brook said quietly as she shut her eyes.

Lucas held her tight, hoping that he would be enough to ward of the bad dreams he feared Brooke would have. He hoped that being in his arms would make everything in her world all right, even if just for the night.


	8. Tears of Happiness

Chapter 8- Tears of Happiness

_My tragedy with_

_More damage than a soul should see_

Brooke slowly opened her eyes and looked around her bedroom. At first she was surprised to see Lucas sitting in her desk chair, fast asleep with a blanket draped over his chest. She couldn't remember why he was there at first, but then the memories from the night before came rushing back. The memories made her shudder.

Brooke knew she was lucky that Lucas came for her. After the way she had treated him she would have understood if he hadn't even answered her call. He had though, he'd answered and he'd come to help her. Thinking back she remembered how it felt, laying in his arms, she had felt so safe. In fact, she was pretty sure it was the safest she had ever felt.

Lucas awoke and saw Brooke lying in her bed. He had moved to the desk chair after she had fallen asleep. Somehow it just didn't feel right for him to sleep in the bed with her all night. He hadn't wanted her to wake up before him and get the wrong idea.

"Hey there pretty girl."

Brooke smiled. It melted her heart when he called her that. "Good morning."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks to you."

Brooke lifted the blankets off the side of the bed, letting Lucas know she wanted him to come and join her. He happily accepted her invitation and he crawled into the bed beside her. She snuggled right up against him, lifting his arm signaling that he should put it around her. Resting her head in the crook of his arm she sighed, it felt so right.

"I don't deserve you Lucas. Look at how I push you away, and then when I really need you you're there for me."

"I'll be honest, I thought about not answering the phone when I saw it was your number."

"What changed your mind?"

"I don't know. I guess I just worried that if I didn't answer I'd never know what it was you were calling to say. I'm glad though. Glad I could be there when you needed it."

Brooke nodded and closed her eyes. She wanted to savor this moment, savor everything about it. She wanted to remember the feeling of his strong arm around her, wanting to remember his scent. She hoped that if she could store away everything about this moment, she could pull it out when she needed to feel safe.

"Brooke I've been thinking about this whole situation we have here. And I guess I've come to some conclusions."

Brooke rolled over and propped herself on her elbows, allowing her to look into his eyes while he spoke. She lay there in silence, waiting for him to continue.

"As much as I don't want to have a relationship and hide it from everyone, I also don't want to not have you in my life."

"Lucas, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying let's try this thing. Let's date. We'll keep it quiet, on two conditions."

"What?"

"One, we won't keep it quiet forever. At some point you're going to have to be able to acknowledge our relationship to everyone. You've told me that doing that know would be too much for you, so that's okay, but not forever."

Brooke pursed her lips and looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally she nodded, "Okay. What's the second condition?"

"That you don't go out of your way to ignore me in school. I understand if you don't want to make out in the hallways, but would it be such a crime if we talked at our lockers from time to time? I mean we're just a few feet away from each other, it feels weird to ignore you."

"Yeah. It'll give people a chance to see us as friends and adjust to that." Brooke smiled as she spoke. "So what now?"

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "I don't know. I mean, I didn't really think past the two conditions."

"Well I can think of something."

Brooke leaned forward and brushed her lips softly on Lucas'. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer as their kiss deepened. His tongue begged for entrance to her mouth, and she allowed it.

Before they both knew it they were on top of each other underneath the covers in nothing but their underwear. Suddenly, Lucas pulled away.

"Are you sure this is okay Brooke? I mean after last night and all?"

Brooke nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. Last night was scary Lucas, this isn't. It feels right."

As she spoke she reached underneath the covers and tugged at the waistband of Lucas' boxers. Taking the cue, he stood up off the bed and stepped out of his boxers. Brooke's eyes widened as she took in his size, it was much more than she had expected.

Lucas walked over to his pants and, reaching into the back pocket for his wallet, he found the condom he kept stashed there. He walked back over to the bed and stopped as he stood before Brooke. He had never seen her look more beautiful as she did at that moment. All the toughness that she tried to exude normally was completely stripped away. She lay there before him completely vulnerable, fully naked except for the scrap of lace between her legs.

Kneeling beside her he pulled off her thong. He lowered himself over her once again, pulling the blankets over them as he did. He positioned himself between her legs and stopped, he looked at her once again, needing to know that it was okay for him to continue.

"Please Lucas, make love to me."

That was all he needed to hear. He entered her slowly. She bit her lip in anticipation of feeling all of him inside of her. She began to move her hips against his slowly, enjoying all of the sensations she was experiencing. Her pace quickened and he followed. She began to moan, quietly at first, and then louder and louder.

"Lucas. Oh, Lucas." She screamed as she came.

Her screams of pleasure pushed him over the edge and he felt himself release inside of her. He lay there for a moment, just gazing into her eyes, before collapsing on top of her.

"God Brooke, that was amazing."

"Yeah, it was pretty great."

After a few minutes Lucas rolled off of Brooke. He walked into her bathroom to clean himself up a little bit.

Joining her back in bed, he pulled her in as close as possible.

They lay there, in one another's arms, just relishing in the afterglow. Lucas thought he heard a sniffle. Craning his neck so he could look at Brooke he saw her eyes were clouded with tears.

"Brooke, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Lucas, absolutely nothing."


	9. Wouldn't That Be Perfect?

**Author's note:** Sorry this update took so long. I'm in the process of applying to law school and it's much more stressful than I thought possible. I promise to work on the next chapter this weekend, hopefully I can get it up early next week.

Chapter 9- Wouldn't That Be Perfect?

_And do I try to change him  
So hard not to blame him  
_

Brooke smiled as she watched Lucas running up and down the court. It used to be that her favorite Saturday morning activity was sleeping in and then shopping, but now the only place she wanted to be was at the River Court watching Lucas play basketball.

Try as she might, Brooke could not find words to describe just how talented Lucas was on the court. The usual adjectives of good or even excellent didn't do him justice. It was more like a work of art. The way he moved, it was so powerful, yet somehow also graceful. He shot with the precision of a skilled marksman. What Brooke enjoyed most though was how he seemed free when he played. It seemed as though he didn't have a care in the world. It was beautiful really.

Brooke and Lucas had been dating for a few months now. Lucas made Brooke feel like no one else ever had before. When she was with him she felt complete. He had this uncanny ability to look in her eyes and know exactly what she was thinking. Even stranger, she could do the same to him.

They were still keeping their relationship under wraps while at school. Lucas had adjusted to the fact and rarely got upset anymore. Brooke had kept her promise and was making baby steps.

Brooke spent a lot of time with Lucas and his friends. That meant a lot to Lucas, it showed him that Brooke didn't feel as though she was too good for him or his friends. His friends loved her and it was beginning to seem as though that admiration was mutual.

Brooke had also introduced Lucas to Peyton and Haley. They thought he was great, and they constantly tried to convince Brooke to just get over her issues and let the whole world know about the most amazing boy she was seeing. She still wasn't ready yet.

"Hey Pretty Girl, are you with me?"

Lucas waved his hand in front of Brooke's face, trying to pull her back to reality from the dream world she had zoned out to.

Brooke blushed a little bit, "Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, my mind was just wandering a little bit."

"No problem, we have been playing for a while. It was great of you to stick around this whole time."

"There's no where else I'd rather be Lucas."

Brooke leaned forward and planted a light kiss on Lucas' lips.

"How about lunch? We can swing by my mom's café, I know she'd love to see you."

Brooke nodded, "Sounds great, I'm starving."

Lucas helped Brooke up from her seat and the two walked hand in hand to her car.

The ride to the café was filled with chit chat, just catching up one another on the events of the past few days.

When they arrived and walked into the café Lucas' mother's face lit right up.

"Well if it isn't my two favorite teenagers. What can I get for you guys today?"

Brooke and Lucas each placed their orders and then headed over to one of the tables to sit down and talk while they waited for their food.

"So I was thinking while I was watching you play today."

Lucas looked at Brooke curiously, he wasn't sure where she was going with this, but he was fairly certain that he wasn't going to like it.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. And I was wondering, how come you don't play for the Ravens? They could really use you. I mean admit it Lucas, you're amazing."

Lucas shook his head and the carefree expression he'd been wearing turned into something else. Something Brooke didn't quite recognize.

"Wouldn't that be just perfect? Me playing for the Ravens, you being a Ravens cheerleader. Then everything would be just perfect. We'd be another one of _those_ couples, the basketball player and the cheerleader."

"I didn't mean that. I was just wondering why you didn't play for them. That's all."

Lucas smirked, "Yeah right, I'm sure that's all. You want to know what I think you're thinking? I think you're thinking that if I played for the Ravens it would be the answer to this issue of you being embarrassed to be with me. We both know that I'd be good, one of the best on the team. That would lead to me becoming popular and then it would be okay for us to date. Right?"

Brooke just sat there, mouth agape. She couldn't believe him.

"That's not what I'm thinking. Not even close. I was simply asking you a question, why you flew of the handle, I have no idea."

"Well then, I guess you don't know me at all. If you did, you wouldn't have ever asked."

With that Lucas stood and walked out of the café, leaving Brooke sitting there stunned. She couldn't believe he'd gone off on her like that, where did it come from? All she wanted to know was why he didn't play for the Ravens. That's all.

Karen walked over with a tray of food. The look of concern on her face made it obvious that she had seen Lucas' little tantrum.

"Is everything okay Brooke?"

Brooke shook her head slowly, "To be honest, no, everything isn't okay, but I don't really know why."

Karen put the tray down on the table and sat down across from Brooke. "Honey I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?"

Brooke nodded. She knew that if anyone would understand it would be Karen. "I asked him why he didn't play for the Ravens and he lost it."

"Lucas is sensitive about that issue. Give him a little time to cool off. I'm sure he'll come talk to you about it. Basketball is just one of those things that gets him all riled up. Be patient with him okay Brooke?"

Brooke nodded.

"Good, now that that's settled someone's got to eat all this food."

Karen looked over towards the counter and called out to one of the waitresses, "I'm taking a break Beth." Karen turned back to Brooke, "Would you like to have lunch with me Brooke?"

"I would love that."

Brooke smiled. She could talk to Lucas later, now she'd eat.


	10. Blue Eyes

**Author's note: **Sorry about the delay! My life has been absolutely crazy this week. I'm already halfway through the chapter so I'll make a little bargain with all of you. I promise to finish the chapter and post it by Christmas if I get 8 reviews on this chapter. I know you guys can do it. I promise, this next one is a good one, tons of drama. So come on, leave me some reviews.

Chapter 10- Blue Eyes

_Hold me tight  
Hold me tight_

Lucas walked towards Brooke's, head down, hands jammed in his pockets. He walked quickly, trying not to think too much about what he was about to do. Knowing he had hurt Brooke with his outburst earlier was bad enough, but knowing he had hurt her and she had no idea why made it even worse.

Lucas hadn't meant to fly off the handle like that, but it was like he couldn't stop himself. She had no idea of knowing, knowing why her simple question hit such a nerve. He shook his head as he remembered the awful things he said to her. Saying that she wanted him to play so he would be popular and then it would be okay for them to be together. He felt sick when he remembered the pained expression on her face.

Reaching out to the red door in front of him he knocked lightly and then entered. It was rare she actually got up to answer the door, and her parents were never home, he always just went in. He headed up towards her bedroom and could hear her talking.

"It was awful, it really was. I didn't know what to do, what to say. He just looked so angry."

Lucas heard her pause and assumed she was on the phone since he didn't hear a response back. Knocking on her bedroom door lightly he slowly opened it. Her eyes widened at the sight of him standing before him.

"I gotta go Haley, I'll talk to you later."

Brooke lowered the phone back into its cradle.

"I'm kind of surprised to see you here."

"I know, I figured I had some explaining to do."

Brooke crossed her arms over her chest causing Lucas to continue, "And some apologizing too."

Her expression softened a little with that remark. Brooke backed up so she was leaning against her headboard. She gestured for Lucas to sit down on the bed with her.

"Let me just start by saying that I am truly sorry for going off on you like that. I know that you weren't trying to do anything besides asking an innocent question. I tried to turn it into more than that and I was wrong."

Brooke nodded, silently letting him know she was accepting his apology while at the same time telling him to continue. Lucas was still amazed that he could get so much from a look.

"I know I've told you about my father, and how he left when I was young, but I've never told you anything else about him. He left when I was five. I barely remember him, but the one thing I do remember is him teaching me to play basketball. We'd spend hours out in the backyard on this makeshift basketball court. The hoop was down pretty low so I'd be able to make baskets. It was on that shabby little court that I found my love for the game. After my dad left, the only time I felt connected to him at all was when I played basketball."

Lucas paused, looking towards Brooke. He could see that the anger had disappeared from her eyes, now all he could see was sympathy and understanding.

"I played on a team in junior high and I quit. All the politics game got in the way and I felt my love for basketball beginning to slip away. I couldn't have that Brooke, I couldn't let the one good memory I had of him disappear because of stupid politics. When I quit I vowed to never again play on a team. I just couldn't risk losing my love for the game my father taught me."

Brooke reached her hand out, taking Lucas' hand into hers. "It seems like he loved you very much. Can I ask why he left? You've never told me."

Lucas nodded and looked off into the distance for a minute.

"He just couldn't be here anymore. This town, it was so small and he felt stifled. He had bigger dreams than this. Things weren't so good between him and my mom either. I know that he loved me though. I've known that every minute of every day. I still remember the day he left. I remember it like it was yesterday Brooke."

Brooke nodded encouraging him to continue. She could see tears forming in his eyes, knowing this was painful for him she reached out and took his other hand, giving him a little squeeze to let him know she was there for him.

"The day he left he picked me up from kindergarten and we drove towards the house. We were almost there when I noticed the suitcases in the back seat. I asked him where he was going and he said he was taking a trip. He said he'd be gone for a while, but that I'd be okay. He told me to take care of my mother, and he told me that now I was the man of the house. I was only 5 years old and he told me I was the man of the house. I remember crying, telling him I didn't understand, I didn't understand why he had to leave. He told me that he needed to. He told me he loved me and told me he always would. Now I look back and wonder how he could just say that, say he loved me and still leave me. He told me that he just had to go, that one day I'd understand. Then he leaned over me and opened my door. I got out and stood there on the lawn, watching him drive away. I can still remember the sting of the tears on my cheeks. You know the worst part Brooke?"

Brooke shook her head.

"He was wrong. To this day I still don't understand why he had to leave. My mom has tried to make it clearer, hoping that I when I was older I'd be able to understand that sometimes you have to follow your dreams. She hoped I'd understand that his dreams were bigger than Tree Hill, but I just can't. I just can't understand how he could leave me if he loved me as much as he said he did. It just doesn't make sense."

Brooke began to speak softly, with caution. She didn't want to further upset him. "There's this quote that I've always loved. 'If you love someone set them free.' Maybe that was it. Maybe he felt that if he stayed here he would start resenting you because you would be the only thing keeping him here. Maybe he didn't want to see that happen, he didn't want to taint his love for you. Leaving may have been the only way out he could see."

Lucas looked thoughtful for a minute, as though he was digesting her words. "I never thought of it that way."

Lucas turned towards Brooke and smiled. He leaned over and pulled her into his arms. They sat there for a few minutes, holding one another.

As Brooke pulled away from his embrace she looked him in the eyes. "Well as far as explanations go, I'd say that one was pretty much rock solid."

"So I'm forgiven?"

"You're forgiven. But Lucas, just talk to me next time. We're still learning about each other, it's impossible for me to know what parts of your life you hide from. If I say something that reminds you of something bad tell me, don't just run from it. I want to know all your secrets."

Lucas smiled. He didn't know what to say. Across from him sat the most amazing girl he'd ever met. She was beautiful, smart, caring, she was everything he could ever want. He wanted to tell her how much he cared but he couldn't, he couldn't find the words. So instead of saying the wrong thing he just sat there, staring deep into her eyes.

"I have to tell you something Lucas."

"Anything."

"I think I'm falling in love with you. And to be completely honest it scares the hell out of me, but it's still happening. I can't stop it. I think that's how I know it's real."

"You think you're falling in love with me or you know you're falling in love with me?"

"I know I'm falling in love with you."

Lucas pulled Brooke into her lap, "Well pretty girl, I'd say that's a good thing."

Brooke smiled up at him, "Oh yea? And why's that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I've already fallen. I've known it for weeks. You're all I can think about Brooke. From the minute I wake up to the minute I fall asleep. Then you're there in my dreams. When I see you my heart literally speeds up. I find everything about you absolutely intoxicating. I wonder how I got so lucky…"

Brooke reached out, placing her finger over his mouth to silence him, "Shhhhh. Don't say anything else."

Lucas looked confused, "Why not?"

"Because I just felt it. Right then, when you were talking. Whatever was holding me back and stopping me from just letting go and loving you, well it's gone. And I want you to just hold me tight while we enjoy this moment."

"What moment?"

"The exact moment where I realized that I am head over heels in love with the boy with the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen."


	11. What Do You Want From Me?

**Author's note:** Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry I didn't get the review out by Christmas, I was sick  But here it is now…enjoy!

Chapter 11- What Do You Want From Me?

_Oh and I don't know  
I don't know what he's after  
But he's so beautiful  
He's such a beautiful disaster_

"P. Sawyer, I can't believe that you leave tomorrow! It's so not fair." Brooke screeched into her cell phone as she drove towards the river court to see Lucas.

"Calm down drama queen, I'm not going that far. I'll only be a few hours away in Charlotte. You know I have to go. Jake wants to have this last month to get us and Jenny all settled in before classes start."

Brooke let out a huge sigh and frowned into her phone. They were staring right into the end of the summer and their impending separation. Peyton would be the first to go. Brooke was upset, but she knew Peyton was right, there was no other choice. Peyton and Jake had been lucky enough to get into the same school. They hoped that they'd be able to juggle their class schedules so one of them could always be with Jenny. Brooke knew she should be happy for Peyton, after all it had been obstacle after obstacle for Peyton, Jake and Jenny, and now it seemed like they were finally catching a break.

"I know, I know. I understand, but that doesn't mean I like it." Brooke whined some more.

"Well then, we'll just have to live it up tonight. You, me and Haley, this is it. This is our last night before everything changes."

"Tonight will be great. I can't wait. Will Jake be able to come?"

"Yep, he found a sitter for Jenny."

"Well then, it looks like we'll all be there. I talked to Haley a little bit ago and she said that she and Nathan would be there."

"We'll all be there huh? What about Lucas, is he coming?"

Brooke bit her lip, "Well, I kind of didn't tell him about the party."

"Brooke, seriously? If he doesn't already know he'll find out. Everyone has heard about this party. Why don't you just invite him to go with you?"

"I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"You really need to get over this Brooke otherwise you're going to lose him. You know I thought you were being a little ridiculous keeping it a secret before, when we were in school, but I tried to understand. But now we aren't even in school. Who cares who you date? High school's over. You don't have to impress anyone anymore."

"It's not that Peyton, really it's not."

"Then what is it?"

"I really don't know Peyton."

Peyton sighed loudly, "Listen Brooke, I have to go. Just let me say this. Lucas has put up with a lot from you. He's been more than patient and it's only because he loves you so much. He won't take much more. I don't want to see what you guys have come to an end just because you were worried about what some people at some party will think. But you're a big girl. You can make your own decisions. Just ask yourself if it's worth the risk, not telling him."

"Okay, okay. I'm hanging up now. Bye P. Sawyer."

Brooke flipped her phone shut and threw it onto the passenger's seat. She knew Peyton was right, she knew that not inviting Lucas was a huge risk. If he found out about the party and she hadn't invited him, or even mentioned it, it could very well be the last straw.

All she wanted was for the night to be perfect. Peyton would be leaving in the morning and Haley would follow in a couple weeks. All of Haley's hard work through high school finally paid off and she'd been awarded a full ride to NYU. Nathan of course had been awarded a full athletic scholarship to his choice of schools. He'd finally settled on Syracuse University in upstate New York. Brooke knew that Haley also being in New York was a huge reason for his choice.

It was hard to believe how much had changed in the past year. Just a year ago it was Brooke and Nathan who were together. Nathan and Haley barely even knew each other, and now, well now they were head over heels in love. When Brooke saw the two of them together she knew that it was meant to be that way.

Brooke still had three weeks to go before she headed off to school. Brooke hadn't done quite as well as she could have in high school, she just never applied herself as much as she should have. Thankfully she had done remarkably well on the SAT and she had gotten into almost every school she applied to. Finally, she settled on Meredith College in Raleigh. She was going to major in business with a minor is fashion merchandising. Meredith was one of the few schools with that program and it was also nice because it was only about 2 hours away from Tree Hill.

Brooke had always thought that she'd run like hell as soon as she could get out of Tree Hill. She always thought she'd go far away as fast as possible, but now she wasn't sure that was what she wanted. She had one tie to Tree Hill that she wasn't quite sure she could sever.

Lucas was staying in Tree Hill. He was postponing college indefinitely to stay and help his mom run the café and the club. She'd only opened the club a few months ago and she was struggling running both, so Lucas had offered to stay and help out where needed. His mother graciously took him up on the offer and turned the club over to him. She'd run the café and he'd run the club. As much as Brooke knew Lucas had also hoped to leave Tree Hill, she understood that he wanted to help his mother. Seeing his devotion to his mother only made Brook love him more.

They hadn't really talked about their impending separation but Brooke was hopeful that they'd be able to work something out. She wasn't ready to give up on Lucas, not yet. She wasn't going to let a couple of hours come between them.

Brooke pulled up onto the grass surrounding the river court and hopped out of her car. She smiled as she felt the sun hit her shoulders. Summer was by far Brooke's favorite season. She loved getting to wear her cute little skirts and sandals everyday.

Smiling at the sight of a sweaty, shirtless Lucas running around the court, Brooke headed over to take a seat on the bleachers to watch the game. Lucas caught sight of Brooke out of the corner of his eye. He stopped, smiled, and promptly got nailed in the head with the ball by Skills. Brooke laughed and sat down.

A little while later the boys began to tire out. Lucas headed over to Brooke. Brooke had stopped and picked up some water bottles for the boys, and they were extremely gracious.

"Damn Luke, I gotta get me a girl like Miss Davis here. She brings us water and let's face it, she's easy on the eyes." Skills winked at Brooke.

"Hey there, back off my woman." Lucas bent down and planted a soft kiss on the top of Brooke's head. She looked up and smiled at him.

They all sat around talking and joking around for a while. One by one the others left and it was just Brooke and Lucas.

"So Pretty Girl. What's on the agenda for tonight?"

"I'm just going to hang out with Peyton and Haley, its Peyton's last night."

"Oh yeah? What are you guys going to do?" Lucas asked Brooke, feigning innocence.

"We're not quite sure yet." Brooke spoke softly. She was beginning to think that Lucas already knew about the party.

"You're not going to possibly stop by this party I've heard about?"

"Ummm, I don't know. Maybe."

Lucas scowled, "Really? Cuz I saw Nathan at the store a few hours ago and he said that you guys were all going to that party. That you'd been planning on it for days. So I'm just wondering Brooke, when were you going to tell me about it?"

"Lucas, it's not like that. It's not like some big outing with all of us. It's really just for me, Peyton and Haley to spend one last night together."

"That's funny, because it sure seemed as though Nathan was going. Probably Jake too huh? That makes me wonder Brooke, why wasn't I invited?"

Brooke looked down at the ground, searching for an answer. Nothing came to her, at least nothing she wanted to say.

Lucas stood up off the bench and threw his towel to the ground. "God Brooke, I thought we were past this. I thought that we didn't need to hide anymore. I mean really, school's over. That was your excuse before, so what is it now? Do I embarrass you that much that you don't even want to invite me to a party with your friends?"

"It's not that." Brooke spoke softly.

"Then what is it?" Lucas stared down at Brooke, his arms crossed over his chest, awaiting an answer.

Brooke stood up, facing Lucas. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to admit it. I want you to admit that you're embarrassed to be seen with me. Come on Brooke, just say it."

Brooke stood there, saying nothing.

"Just because you won't say it doesn't make it any less the truth. I don't get why you care so much. So what, we're different. Truth be told, I think that's why we're so great together. We even each other out. You can be the biggest bitch ever and I'm not afraid to call you on it. In fact, any other guy might not be so nice about it. We have something here Brooke and it's real and it works. I don't know why you keep running from it."

"I don't know what you want from me."

"Oh come on Brooke." Lucas threw his hands up in exasperation. "You. All I want it you. You're all I've ever wanted and you know that. But you still keep pushing me away. And no matter how hard I try I can't figure out why. I can't figure out what it is that keeps you from just giving all of yourself to me. I really don't think it's just that you're embarrassed. Sometimes I think you're scared that when everyone knows about us then this thing will really be real. I think that's what scares you."

Brooke just shook her head. She knew he was right. She knew that was it, she had just never realized it before. She was scared for it to be real. Once it was real she wouldn't be able to run anymore, wouldn't be able to make excuses for not letting Lucas have all of her.

"You know what Brooke? I'm done. I can't go on like this. I love you so much and you just won't let all your walls down. I can't take it anymore. Don't worry about the party tonight. I didn't want to go anyways. I just wanted you to want me to be there. Have fun though, enjoy spending time with all the people who are important to you, well at least the one's you'll admit are important to you. And don't call me Brooke, ever, we're through. I've given you more than enough chances. I'm just all out. I can't give anymore. I'm sorry."

Lucas turned away and bent down to pick up his bag. He turned back towards Brooke and took one last look before walking away.

Brooke stood there watching him leave. Finally she cried out, "Lucas!"

"Oh come on Brooke, is there really anything else to say?" He stood there, pleading to her with his eyes for some kind of response. For something that would make him turn back, but that didn't come. She just stood there, all out of words.

"Good bye Pretty Girl."

With that he turned and walked over to his car, got in, and drove away. Brooke fell to her knees sobbing. He was gone and it was all her fault.


	12. All That You Can't Leave Behind

**Author's note:** Okay, the title of this chapter is an episode title for one of the episode's in season 1. I try to make most of what I use original, but it just seemed to be the best title for this chapter. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. Keep them coming, reviews make me write faster.

Chapter 12- All That You Can't Leave Behind

_And if I could hold on  
Through the tears and the laughter  
Would it be beautiful?   
Or just a beautiful disaster_

"I don't want to go back to Tree Hill." Brooke muttered under breath.

"Oh no, not this again. Every single Christmas you whine and moan about going back to Tree Hill for the holidays. I'm sick of it. What is it about that place that gets you so down?"

Brooke looked over at her roommate Emma. Brooke met Emma freshman year when they were randomly assigned to be roommates. Now, four years later, they were finishing up their first semester of an intense MBA program together. They were much more than roommates, even best friends didn't seem like enough. Brooke looked at Emma as though she was her sister.

In some ways the girls were a lot a like. They were both brunettes that could drop a boy to his knees with just a smile. They shared a love for fashion. They also both loved to have fun. On any given Friday or Saturday night they could be found at the hottest party, newest club, or wherever the newest hot spot was.

In some ways they were very different though. Emma was a very open person. When she liked a guy everyone, including him, knew it. She always went for what she wanted.

Then there was Brooke. She guarded her emotions. Years ago she had constructed a wall to hide behind. No one could break through that wall. Not even Emma.

Brooke knew she could tell Emma the truth about her demons in Tree Hill. She knew that she would understand. But Brooke knew once she said it, then it was out there. It would be real and she would have to deal with it.

Brooke let out a loud sigh, "Okay, I'll tell you about Tree Hill if you will promise not to give me any advice."

Emma nodded in agreement.

"It all started a little over five years ago when I met the boy with the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen…"

ooooOoooo

"Hi Mom. Sorry I'm late. The plumber came to check out that problem in the men's room at the club." Lucas called as he walked into the house, dropping some folders filled with paperwork on the couch.

"It's no problem. I was running late at the café anyways." Karen leaned over and kissed Lucas on the cheek once he walked into the kitchen.

"Mmm, smells good."

Karen smiled. "It has to. I know you'd never come home if I didn't cook so well."

Lucas shrugged playfully. "Well, I would still need somewhere to do my laundry."

"Haha. Anyways, I wanted to talk about Christmas."

"Okay."

"Well, I just heard from Keith and it looks like he will be making it back in time for dinner Christmas Eve. So I was thinking that we'd keep it small, just the three of us. Then on Christmas Day we can go over to Keith's brother's house and celebrate with his family."

"That sounds fine."

Lucas' mom had married Keith three years ago. They'd been friends for as long as Lucas could remember. Keith had always been like a father to Lucas. He was there for Karen and Lucas right after Lucas' dad left and he'd been there ever since. They'd started dating right before Lucas graduated high school and then married shortly after.

Keith was on the road a lot. He owned a chain of car repair shops. It had started out small and taken off in the past few years. He now owned shops in North Carolina and some surrounding states. Keith traveled between the stores regularly, leaving Karen alone, but she didn't seem to mind. She was pretty busy most of the time anyways.

Lucas had moved out of his mother's house shortly after the wedding. It didn't seem necessary for him to be there anymore. He had gotten an apartment nearby and relished in his new found freedom. Being the man of the house had never felt like a burden to Lucas, but he was relieved once he was on his own.

Lucas was still running his mother's club. It was one of the hottest spots in Tree Hill and it almost never had a slow night. Lucas was constantly working at recruiting the newest and hottest talent, and he was usually quite successful. He'd made invaluable contacts in the music industry over the past few years.

When Lucas wasn't working he was still shooting hoops with the guys at the River Court. They'd all stayed relatively close to Tree Hill and got together regularly. Sometimes Lucas felt stuck, as though he was still in high school, but he knew that this was best for his mother. He couldn't just up and leave her.

"So will there be anyone joining us for dinner this year?" Karen asked quietly.

"No mom, no one will be joining us for dinner."

Lucas' mother was always trying to get him to date more, but he just didn't have the energy. He'd had a few girlfriends over the past few years, but it never worked out. There was always something missing, and Lucas wasn't one to settle.

Ever since Brooke Davis had walked into his life and turned it upside down, nothing had felt quite the same. Even after all these years later he could still remember the way her smile made him feel. He worried that he'd remember that feeling for the rest of the life, that he'd never find anyone else that could make him feel quite the same.

It had been just about five years since Lucas had last seen Brooke. He could remember that day like it was yesterday. He'd given up on her. There was always some hurdle between them and he just couldn't take it anymore. So he'd walked away and left her standing there, alone.

Over the years he'd played it over thousands of times in his head. What if he had just turned around and gone back to her? What if he'd been able to look past her issues? What if, what if, what if?

That's all it was anymore, a bunch of what ifs. Lucas had finally come to terms with the fact that he couldn't change the past and what he and Brooke had, or didn't have, was certainly in the past.

ooooOoooo

"And you said nothing?" Emma exclaimed. "He gave you the chance to say something. Something to make him turn around and you didn't?"

"I couldn't. I just didn't know what to say. I was speechless. He hit the nail right on the head. I didn't want it to be real. Once everyone found out it would be."

"But you told him you loved him. How does it get anymore real?"

Brooke thought for a moment, "Telling him that I loved him was one thing. Saying the words to him didn't scare me. It was like our little secret, it still wasn't real then. But letting everyone else know, that was just too much."

"That explains a lot about you Brooke. It really does. Why you're so guarded with you're feelings. Why no guy has been around longer than a week. Doesn't it get old though?" Emma asked.

"What?"

"Running."

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, it does. But I've been running for so long now I wouldn't know how to stop. That's why I always hate going back to Tree Hill. Christmas break is a whole month where I run the risk of seeing him. And it could be anywhere, I never know. Even the gas station isn't safe."

"And that's why you've stayed here every summer huh?"

Brooke nodded again, "It certainly wasn't because of the tips I made bartending."

"Now I know that you don't want my advice so I won't sit here and lecture you on what I think is best, but let me just say one thing, okay?"

"Okay."

"You can't run forever."

"That's it? That's your best friend advice? You can't run forever."

"You said you didn't want advice."

"Well I changed my mind. Advise me Em, tell me what to do." Brooke clasped her hands in front of her, as though she was praying.

"Well…wait…no. This is one thing you have to deal with on your own. You can't run forever Brooke, that's all I have to say."

ooooOoooo

It hadn't changed in all those years. Sure, there were different cars parked in the driveway, but the house still looked the same. Brooke had driven past every time she came back to Tree Hill, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. She had never had any luck though.

Stepping out of her car she had to steady herself. She swore that she could hear her knees knocking. Brooke was pretty sure she'd never been this nervous in her whole life.

As she walked up the driveway she kept considering turning around. But then she heard Emma's words in her head, 'You can't run forever.'

Brooke knew Emma was right. This was going to continue on until she stopped running. She would spend each day like she had the last, hiding tirelessly from what she believed to be her fate. She prayed that he believed it was his fate too.

She walked carefully up the front steps, trying to walk so softly that her stilettos would not make a sound against the cold wood of the front porch. She didn't want to reveal herself before she was ready.

There she stood, in front of his door. No matter how hard she tried, she could not lift her arm to knock.

Closing her eyes she did this thing she always did. Whenever she was in a stressful situation she would close her eyes and picture him, smiling at her. It always brought a sense of calm over her.

Taking a deep breath she raised her fist and knocked softly on the door. She half hoped he wouldn't hear the knock.

She heard footsteps approaching the door. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to see him again.

"I'll get it Mom." He said as he walked towards the front door.

He wondered who it could be. He wasn't expecting anyone, he was quite certain his mom and Keith weren't either.

Reaching out he opened the door, shocked by what lay on the other side.

"Brooke."


	13. I Never Forgot

**Author's note: **Sorry this chapter took so long. I had it done Friday but it was on my work computer and I forgot to e-mail it to myself so I could edit and post during the weekend. But here it is now, I hope it's worth the wait.

Chapter 13- I Never Forgot

_I'm longing for love and the logical  
But he's only happy hysterical  
I'm searching for some kind of miracle  
Waited so long  
So long_

"Brooke."

"Hi." Brooke felt as though that was the only word she knew. She just couldn't believe that he was standing before her.

For the most part, he looked the same. Definitely older, but everything else seemed to be just the same. He was still tall and thin. He had his hair shaved real close to his head, and he had a little bit of a beard growing in, that only added to him looking older. His eyes hadn't changed one bit. As he stood there, taking her in, she felt as though he wasn't just looking at her on the outside, but as though he was searching deep into her soul.

"What are you doing here?" It didn't come out the right way. He just didn't know what else to say.

She looked amazing. The years hadn't changed her much, only made her more beautiful. She wore her hair in long sensual waves. Unlike in high school, she wore very little makeup. Her clothing had changed a bit too. She was wearing a knee length skirt and a turtleneck sweater. She was much more covered up than she used to be in high school and it made her look very mature.

Brooke smiled up at him nervously. He grinned a little, causing her smile to widen, exposing her dimples. With the mere sight of her dimples he could feel his heart crumbling. That smile seemed to be all it took to break the ice.

"I wanted to see you. Can we maybe go somewhere and talk?" She held her breath, hoping reality wouldn't strike and he'd slam the door in her face.

Slowly he began to nod, "Sure. Let me just grab my coat."

Lucas ventured back into the house. Brooke stayed on the front porch. She needed a few minutes to compose herself.

She'd known that she'd missed him throughout the years, but now that she'd seen him she realized just how empty she'd been.

After a few minutes Lucas joined Brooke on the porch.

"So where to?"

Brooke shrugged, "Just somewhere quiet where we can talk."

"I know just the place. Should we walk?"

Brooke held out her foot, "I'm not really dressed for a walk."

Lucas laughed at her insanely high heels. "Some things never change. Here, I'll drive."

He rested his hand on the small of her back and guided her towards his car. This small gesture sent her heart racing. The feel of his hand through her coat and sweater made her skin tingle with excitement.

They drove in silence. It wasn't awkward though, not one bit. They were just enjoying one another's presence. Both scrambling to remember all the things they wish they'd said.

Brooke smiled as they pulled up to the River Court.

"Wow." She said as she exhaled. "I haven't been here in years. I purposely avoid it each time I'm home. Do you still come here and play?"

"Yeah." Lucas nodded. "Pretty regularly actually. Most of the guys are still in the area. It's nice, having a part of my child hood present in my adult world."

Brooke nodded in agreement. "I wish I had that."

"Oh come on, there isn't anything in your life now that's simple? Nothing that's like it was when you were young?"

Brooke shook her head, "Not that I can think of. My life seems like it's so far from what it used to be."

"Tell me about it." Lucas asked as he sat down on the bleachers.

"Well. I graduated from Meredith last May. I started work on my MBA this past August. I live with my best friend Emma in an apartment a little ways from school. I've been keeping my ear open about any internships. I'm hoping to nab something in New York this summer, try and start making a name for myself." Brooke looked over at Lucas. "What about you? Tell me about your life."

"Well, I'm still running my mom's club. I've thought about going to school, but I really have a good thing going. My mom married Keith a few years ago, so once he moved in I moved out. That's been really great, I needed my freedom. I needed to start living my own life." Lucas paused and looked down at the ground. "Are you happy?" He asked softly. Once the words left his lips, he turned his head, looking at Brooke.

She started to shake her head slowly. "No. I'm not happy. My life feels empty. No matter how hard I try I can't fill that emptiness."

"Have you felt like this long?"

"Ever since the day you walked away." Brooke had been looking out at the water, or down at the ground, she'd been avoiding his eyes. Turning her head now, she looked up, looked right into them. "I don't think I can keep living my life without you in it."

Lucas was stunned. He didn't know what to say. He'd been longing to hear those words for so long that now that she was saying them he didn't know how to react. He averted his eyes, looking down at the ground once again.

"I know that's not fair for me to say. I know we haven't seen each other in years. But Lucas, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about you. I know I screwed up all those years ago, and I'm sorry, I really truly am sorry. I can't go back and fix it, but I can swear to you that it will never happen again."

Brooke looked over at Lucas, waiting for him to say something, anything.

"How do I know you won't disappear again? You never said good bye before you left for school, I just never heard from you again." He finally looked back up at her. "You need to tell me, you have to reassure me because Brooke, I can't risk giving you my heart again if you're just going to disappear. My heart can't take losing you again. When you left it was like you tore out a piece of my heart and it went with you. I've tried so hard to get it back but I can't. I can't risk giving you even more of my heart and having you run off with that."

"Do you know why I disappeared before Lucas? Why I never tried to contact you when I was home?" Brooke glanced over as he shook his head. "Because I was scared of this, this thing between us. I don't know what it is, I didn't know then and I don't know now. But there's something here, and it's something that isn't going to go away. I mean look, it hasn't gone away in all these years. But this thing, well it scares me, it always has. That's why I ran, to get away from it. It worked for a while, but now I'm scared of something else."

"What?"

"I'm scared of never knowing. I'm scared of never exploring this thing between us. I'm scared of wondering, ten years down the road, what could have been. I know I'm the one that ran scared so I don't deserve to ask you this, but Lucas, please, let's give this a chance. I can't even say another chance because I really didn't give it a fair chance before, but let's do it now. No holds barred, I want to see if whatever this is between us, if it can be something real. Can we give it a chance Lucas?"

"Do you realize what you're asking me?"

Brooke nodded and looked back down at the ground, allowing him time to think. Finally she began to speak again. "I always imagine this thing. It's ten, twenty years down the road and I'm in Tree Hill for Christmas or Thanksgiving or something. I'm at the grocery store and I look up and there you are. I really believe that there will still be something very powerful between us. No matter what our situations are, whether we're married to other people, have kids with other people, no matter what the sight of you will still unravel me. I don't want to live a life of regret. I don't want to look back years down the road and regret never giving this a chance."

Lucas did not move, he did not utter a word for what seemed like hours on end. Finally he nodded, very slowly at first, and then with more volition. "We can give it a chance. But you have to promise me something Brooke."

"Okay…"

"Promise me that when you're scared you won't run. Promise me that you'll talk to me about it. I'm scared too, I won't lie. This thing between us is so strong I'm scared of what it could really be, but I won't let that fear get in the way of discovering it. You can't let fear get in the way either. Just promise me that you'll talk to me about it?"

"I will Lucas, I promise."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, not really knowing what to do or say. Lucas exhaled loudly causing Brooke to turn and look at him.

"I'm glad you finally admitted it Brooke."

"Yeah, it only took me six years to say."

"I always knew you felt it but for some reason that I never understood, you could never say the words."

"I guess I wasn't ever ready. It's just that I'd had so much heartache in my life, I couldn't risk more."

Lucas stood up and pulled Brooke off the bench so they stood facing one another. Lucas pulled Brooke in close, one hand on the small of her back, the other he ran softly through the waves of her hair.

"Pretty girl, remember one thing. The last thing I've ever wanted to do is break your heart."

With that he leaned in slowly, it was as though there was a force between them, drawing them together. Their lips touched, softly at first. It sent tingles through both their bodies. Their kiss deepened. After all these years it felt exactly the same.

Once their kiss broke Lucas opened his eyes and noticed tears falling down Brooke's face. He didn't need to ask, he knew. He pulled her close, knowing that was all she needed. It was all they both needed.


	14. Worlds Apart

Chapter 14- Worlds Apart

_He's soft to the touch  
But frayed at the end he breaks_

"Okay, now everything for the band has been ordered, so all you'll have to do is set it all up in their dressing room. I gave the band's manager your cell number in case anything comes up. The liquor delivery will come tomorrow around noon. The beer delivery is usually later, around 3 or 4. You have to be there to sign for both. Now the DJ booth…"

"Lucas, I've been Assistant Manager of TRIC for four years. I was the DJ before that. I have it all under control, really, go, have fun. Don't worry about anything." Mouth guided Lucas towards the door to the club.

"If you need anything just call my cell."

"Thanks for that, but I won't. Now go before I call Junk in here to escort you out." Mouth patted Lucas on the back, "Really, it's going to be fine. It's about time you took a little break."

Lucas nodded and smiled feebly. He looked around one more time then headed out the door.

He had to admit, it did feel as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn't taken more than a night off since he started running TRIC. Now though, Brooke Davis was back in his life and while he knew that going to see her for a week wouldn't exactly be a vacation, it would be a nice break from his life. Not to mention, he was excited to see what her life was like now.

Getting into his car he felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He smiled as he looked at the caller ID.

"Brooke, hey."

"Lucas, when are you getting here?" Brooke exclaimed in a whiny voice.

"I'm just leaving TRIC now. I had some last minute stuff to go over with Mouth. I should be there in about an hour."

"Aw, Mouth. How is he? I haven't seen him forever." Brooke smiled, remembering Lucas' dorky little friend, he was always so cute.

"He's good. He's my assistant manager. Right after high school he started out as the DJ but then he started to get more involved with the running of things so I offered him the assistant manager position. He does a great job. I'm a little nervous though, this is the first time I've been gone for more than a night."

"He'll be fine. Don't worry about it. I'll let you go now though, drive safe. I'll see you later."

"Yep, see you later."

Lucas smiled as he flipped his phone shut. Brooke had come barreling back into his life and he couldn't be happier about it.

After the night she showed up at his house they spent the rest of the week together, right up until she had to return to Raleigh. Classes weren't going to start for a few weeks, but Brooke had been working in a small boutique for the last few years and she hadn't been able to take off more than a week.

After some begging that had been both unnecessary and unbelievably adorable, Lucas agreed to come to Raleigh and spend a week with Brooke. Lucas hoped that this week would give them some clarity.

They didn't really establish anything while she was back in Tree Hill, except for the fact that they were going to give it a shot. As far as what they were though, that was still in limbo. Lucas wasn't sure if they were dating, in a relationship, or even just hanging out. He hoped to get some answers on everything this week.

It had been difficult, the last few weeks. They'd spent countless hours on the phone, attempting to fill one another in on the years they'd been apart, but the phone only went so far. Lucas missed having Brooke in his arms. It took him years to get her back there, and letting go was so difficult.

Brooke had one year left before she'd have her MBA. Lucas knew that after all the time they'd spent apart one more year really was nothing, but truth be told, he didn't want to spend it away from her. He hadn't told her, but the real reason for his visit was to see if Raleigh was somewhere he could see himself living. He figured while Brooke as at class he could go around and look for jobs, see if anything appealed to him.

If all else failed Lucas could always continue running TRIC and just making frequent visits to Raleigh to see Brooke. Admittedly, he didn't really like that idea. He didn't want to miss one more day with her if it could be avoided.

Lucas' eyes widened as he pulled up to the gate in front of her apartment complex. He spoke into the box, stating he was Brooke Davis' visitor and then drove through the gate once it opened before him. The buildings were large and beautiful. The grounds were immaculate. It made his shabby little complex seem like the city dump. He couldn't imagine how much the rents cost around here.

He watched the signs as he drove through, taking note of the pool, tennis courts, and fitness facilities. Finally he pulled up in front of her building. Grabbing his bags, he headed towards her door.

Reaching out he knocked. He heard a small thud from inside, which he assumed was Brooke hopping off whatever furniture she'd been sitting on, and then footsteps racing towards the door. He heard her fiddle with the chain and then pull the door open.

Without a word she catapulted herself into Lucas' arms. He dropped his bag to catch her and held her tight. He pulled back a little in order to lower his lips to hers.

"Hey now, no making out in the hallway. People live here ya know!"

Lucas turned and saw a petite brunette making her way towards them.

"Lucas, this is my roommate Emma. Emma, this is Lucas."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest, "So you're the famous Lucas Roe. It's funny, you're different than I imagined."

"Oh really, why's that?"

"Well Brooke here makes you out to be some kind of Gsreek god, but really, you're a little on the scrawny side."

Lucas frowned.

"Kidding." Emma laughed as she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you Lucas."

Lucas took her hand and shook it, "You too Emma."

"Come on in, I'll show you around." Brooke practically squealed with excitement.

Lucas followed the girls in and looked around. The inside was just as he'd imagined it, huge and immaculately furnished. By the looks of it Lucas thought it safe to assume that Emma's parents were as well off as Brooke's.

"Okay, so here's the living room. There's the kitchen," Brooke turned and pointed. "And down this way are the bedrooms."

Brooke started down the long hallway. Reaching out she pushed open a door, "This is Emma's room."

Continuing down the hallway she pushed open the next door, "And here's the bathroom. Right across is the den." Brooke gestured to the small room across the hall.

"And, here's the piece de resistance, my room."

Brooke opened the door and walked over towards her bed, taking a seat on it, watching as Lucas looked around.

Pink. Lucas wasn't the least bit surprised, it was all pink. The bedspread, the curtains, the pillows, even the laptop that was sitting open on her bed. It was definitely Brooke's room.

Lucas walked through the room, looking at the pictures that covered the walls and surfaces throughout her room. He looked at the life that he'd missed these past few years.

He enjoyed seeing how Brooke transformed through the years. As she got older he took note of the makeup on her face diminishing while her skirts subsequently got longer. It was as though he could actually see Brooke growing more comfortable in her own skin as the pictures progressed.

As he looked at each picture his smile faded little by little.

"Broody, why so broody?"

"I'm just realizing how much of your life I missed out on. I mean look at this, all these people I've never met. All these places I've never seen. A lot's happened these past few years."

Brooke stood up off the bed and walked over to Lucas.

"But you're here now and that's what matters. Everything else, we can't go back and change it so why let it bother us?"

Lucas nodded slowly, "You're right. We can't change it."

"I don't know about you Luke, but I'm starving. Should we go and get some dinner?"

"Oh really? I was kind of hoping you'd cook for me." Lucas teased.

"Yeah, that'll be the day. Come on, we'll go to my favorite restaurant." Brooke grabbed Lucas' hand and led him back through the apartment.

"We're going to go and get some dinner Em. You want anything?" Brooke called to Emma who was rummaging through the refrigerator.

"Thank god!" Emma slammed the refrigerator door shut and spun around, "We have absolutely nothing to eat. Where are you going to go?"

"Ling Ling."

"Oooh, sounds good. Get me my usual."

Brooke nodded and grabbed Lucas' hand, pulling him out the door.

"I'll drive." Brooke pointed towards a small, silver, BMW convertible.

"That's your car? What happened to the beatle?"

Brooke laughed, "The beatle is so last year. My parents bought this for me when I graduated college. Nice present huh?"

"Yeah." Lucas choked out as his eyes went from the BMW to his old beat up Jeep. "Nice present."

The ride to the restaurant was quick and filled with Brooke's constant comments about the city she'd been living in for years. She pointed out her favorite hot spots and different places she'd grown to love over the years. Lucas smiled as he imagined her walking these streets.

They drove past Meredith College and Lucas could instantly see why Brooke loved it. It was relatively small but covered with flowers. There were large open fields in front of every building and there were students scattered everywhere. It just seemed like the perfect place for Brooke.

Brooke pulled into the parking lot in front of the restaurant and stepped out, straightened her shirt, and held out her hand.

"Come on boyfriend."

"So I'm boyfriend now?"

"If that's okay with you."

Lucas smiled and nodded, "Yeah, that's okay with me."

They walked into the restaurant hand in hand. By the way Brooke was greeted it was obvious that she was a regular.

After ordering Lucas leaned back in the booth.

"Okay Broody, what's on your mind?"

"What do you mean?"

"You have on your broody face. So spill."

"It's nothing really. I'm just thinking. About you, about us, about our lives. I just wonder how we're going to make all this work. I mean I'm in Tree Hill and you're here. We have our separate lives. How will it work?"

"Yeah, it's complicated, but not impossible. Why don't we just enjoy this week and then we'll talk. Maybe we'll get some answers as the week goes on. For now though, just enjoy your dinner."

Brooke smiled up at the waiter as he placed their plates in front of them. Brooke grabbed her chopsticks and dug in.

After they were done eating Brooke began to reach for the check. Lucas stopped her and grabbed it up. He took one look and nearly choked on his fried rice. $65.97. He couldn't believe it. Three meals, almost $70.00. What kind of place was this?

He pulled out his wallet and frowned. He definitely didn't have enough cash to cover this. Shrugging it off he reached for his credit card, wondering how he was going to afford this week.

Brooke caught his look of shock and grabbed the bill out of his hand.

"It's on me Lucas, I picked the place."

"No Brooke, I've got it."

"Really Lucas, I got it. I haven't even put a dent in my allowance yet. Let me pay."

"I said I've got it." Lucas spoke with a finality that shocked Brooke so much she released her hold on the bill.

Leaning back in her chair she said nothing. She couldn't believe he'd reacted like that. Brooke knew the restaurant was a little pricey, but she hadn't expected him to react that way. She'd planned on paying all along.

"You pay on the way out." Brooke spoke softly.

Lucas stood and headed towards the exit, Brooke followed, making sure to grab the take out for Emma.

After paying Lucas headed towards Brooke's car quickly and silently.

The ride back to Brooke's apartment was silent. Lucas was deep in thought and Brooke said nothing for fear of Lucas snapping at her again.

Just as she was about to turn into her complex, Brooke changed her mind and kept driving.

"What are you doing Brooke?"

"We're taking a little detour. I want to show you someplace."

They continued down the road a little ways and then made some turns. Lucas noted how the neighborhoods changed from immaculate mansions to small, unkempt houses. A few minutes later Brooke pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car and got out.

Lucas got out as well and looked curiously at the old beat up basketball court Brooke was walking towards.

"What's this Brooke?"

"It's Raleigh's version of the River Court. I found this place when I got lost this one time sophomore year. It reminded me so much of you. Whenever life got to be too much and I just needed some time to myself I'd come here and think. There are these kids that play here and I would just sit and watch for hours. It would always take me back to that time in my life. That time I spent with you was without a doubt the best time of my life. Coming here reminded me of how it felt."

"It's funny, you have to leave your world to be reminded of mine."

"What do you mean?"

"You have to drive miles from where you live, from where your school and apartment are to be reminded of me. You have your world and I have mine, and let's face it Brooke, I just don't belong in yours."

"Lucas?"

"You live in this gorgeous apartment. A month of your rent probably costs like 6 months worth of my rent. You drive a car that wasn't even created in the same millennium as my car. You eat at restaurants where the meals cost more than my grocery bill for two weeks. I just don't belong in this world."

"Lucas…come on…"

"No Brooke. I want to be alone right now. You head back to your place, I'll meet you there."

Brooke shook her head, "No Lucas, you don't know the way."

"I'll figure it out." He yelled over his shoulder as he walked away from her.

Brooke walked back to her car, shaking her head. She couldn't believe that after all these years she was still standing in the same spot, watching him walk away from her.


	15. Turkey on Rye and Cheap Champagne

Chapter 15- Turkey on Rye and Cheap Champagne

_He's never enough  
And still he's more than I can take_

As Brooke walked towards her car her anger grew. Who was he to walk away from her yet again? She let him walk away all those years ago and look at the pain it caused her. She wasn't about to let it happen again.

Turning around she broke out in a run towards him. She stopped a little ways behind him.

"Lucas Roe, you turn around right now."

Lucas stopped and hesitated for a minute before turning around to face Brooke.

She stood her ground, keeping a few feet between them.

"You walked away from me once and look what happened. We were apart for years. That isn't going to happen again. You aren't going to walk away from me again. We're going to stand here and figure this out."

"Figure what out? Something you've known for years? We come from different worlds, I was nuts to think that things would be any different now."

"Are you kidding me? They're completely different now. I don't care about all that stuff I used to care about. I don't care if you drive a Benz or a 10 speed Schwinn. All I care about is that you and I are together. I love you Lucas, you know that."

"Love wasn't enough back then, who's to say its enough now?"

Brooke stamped her foot like a child, "I say its enough now."

Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, "And apparently what you say goes?"

"Yes, what I say goes. I say you're going to stop this storming off bit and you're going to walk over here and pull me into your arms and kiss me. And not just some little peck on the cheek, I mean Hollywood style, no holds barred, kiss. After your little tantrum you owe me at least that much."

Lucas hesitated again, this time though not because he didn't know what to do, but purely because he loved to make her squirm.

"I'm waiting." She exclaimed as she tapped her toe against the pavement.

Lucas walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned her backwards, deeply kissing her.

After pulling her back up she smiled.

"See, me getting what I want isn't always a bad thing for you."

"I suppose." He admitted.

"Now boyfriend, my last request of the night is that you come home with me."

"That sounded more like an order than a request. So it's your last order?"

Brooke winked and then smiled that dimpled smile that melted Lucas' heart, "Oh trust me, the rest of what I have planned for tonight, well, let's just say I won't have to order anything, and you'll happily give me what I want."

Brooke turned and headed towards her car, Lucas eagerly in tow.

ooooOoooo

Reaching over to turn off the alarm, Brooke loudly sighed.

"I don't want to go to class. Can't I just stay in bed here with you all day?"

Lucas smiled and wrapped his arms around her tighter.

"I wish you could babe, but you can't skip class just because I'm here."

"Why can't it still be the weekend and we can spend all day together?"

"Because the real world had to step in sometime, and the real world entails classes and work and all that good stuff. How about you get in the shower and I'll go and make you some breakfast?"

"Only if it's french toast."

"You're wish is my command."

Lucas got out of bed and Brooke rolled over, pulling the covers of her head, groaning.

"I don't want to get up."

"Whining won't get you any pity. Up, up, up." Lucas exclaimed as he pulled peeled back the covers. "I'll start your shower."

Half an hour later Brooke skipped out to the kitchen. Her hair flowed down her back, wet and wavy. She had on a pair of black gauchos, black stilettos, and a red turtleneck sweater that was a sharp contrast against her milky skin. Lucas felt his breath get caught in his throat as he took in the sight of her. She was definitely the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.

Brooke sat down at the table just as Lucas placed a plate of french toast and a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.

"Mmm, Broody, this looks good."

"I know. Now dig in, you're going to be late."

Brooke took his advice and wolfed down her french toast.

Standing she grabbed her coffee cup and headed towards the bedroom, "I'm going to finish getting ready, I'll be out in a few."

Fifteen minutes later Brooke headed back out towards the kitchen. She smiled at the sight of Lucas sitting there reading the paper while drinking his coffee.

"I didn't think we got the paper."

"You don't. I ran out and got it from the machine by the pool house."

"Hm. I never knew we had one. So, what're you going to do all day?"

Lucas put down the paper, "Well, I thought I'd go and explore a little. See what all's around here. Then I'm going to start working on dinner for tonight."

"Oooh, what's that going to be?"

"It's a surprise. All weekend we ate out at your favorite places, so tonight dinner is on me, my style. Okay?"

"Okay." Brooke glanced up at the clock. "I gotta run. Kiss."

Lucas stood up and planted a soft kiss in her lips. "See you later babe, have a good day."

"You too."

With that she was out the door.

Lucas took his time finishing the paper. He headed towards the bathroom for a quick shower before he started preparing for that night.

ooooOoooo

"Broody, I'm back." Brooke called as she flipped the lights on in her apartment. "Are you here?"

Brooke walked cautiously through her apartment, half expecting Lucas to jump out and yell "Boo" any second.

Pushing open the door to her bedroom she saw a candle burning on the dresser. She walked over and saw a pink piece of paper folded underneath it. Carefully, she lifted the candle and opened the piece of paper.

_Grab a sweatshirt and some comfortable shoes and go out front._

_L_

Brooke did as instructed, grabbing her favorite hoodie and trading in her stilettos for some flip flops. She then headed back outside towards the parking lot.

Smiling, she saw Lucas standing outside the passenger side of his Jeep.

"Your carriage awaits."

Brooke smiled and got into the car. Lucas walked around and got into the driver's side.

"Now I'll admit, I thought about picking you up on my Schwinn, since you said you wouldn't care either way, but instead I opted for my beat up old Jeep."

"Either would have been alright with me. Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Lucas pulled away from the curb and headed out of the complex. Just as he was about to turn onto the main road he stopped.

"Put this on."

He handed her a black blindfold.

"Only if you promise you aren't taking me somewhere to kill me." She said playfully.

"I promise."

Once the blindfold had been adorned, Lucas proceeded to drive.

Fifteen minutes later the car came to a stop. Lucas hopped out and walked over to the passenger side. He helped Brooke out and took her hand.

"Just come with me, I promise I won't let you bump into anything."

Lucas guided Brooke a little ways before he stopped. She grew more and more curious as she began to feel her feet sinking into soft sand.

She could feel him walk behind her. He reached up to remove the blindfold.

He removed it slowly and Brooke blinked a few times before looking at what lay before her.

"Oh Lucas, its perfect."

He'd set up a blanket on the beach. There was a picnic basket sitting in the middle of the blanket.

Lucas took Brooke's hand and guided her over to the blanket, gesturing for her to sit down.

Lucas took a seat across from her and reached into the picnic basket.

"Tonight, for your dining pleasure, we have one of my personal favorites. Turkey on rye and Doritos."

Brooke smiled as he pulled the food out from the basket.

"And to top it all of, a nice bottle of Food Lion brand champagne. We'll just have to cross our fingers and pray it's tolerable."

Brooke laughed. "It's perfect Lucas, all of it."

"I wasn't sure if the turkey was the best way to go, I thought maybe you were more of a ham girl."

"No, turkey's fine." Brooke responded softly. "It's beautiful here. You found this on your own?"

"No, I'll admit I cheated a little bit. I asked some girl that was walking in your complex where I could find a romantic spot like this. She pointed me towards this beach and I thought it was perfect."

"She was right, it's perfect. But what's it all about? I would have been happy eating back at my place."

"I guess I just wanted to show you that I heard you. Our differences aren't bad things, they don't matter. So, I figured I'd show you how I do it. I might not be able to afford the nice restaurants and the expensive food, but I can promise you that I'll always put my heart into everything we do."

"That's all I want." Brooke leaned forward and kissed Lucas softly. "I'd rather have turkey on try any day, as long as you're here with me."

After they ate, they strolled arm in arm down the beach, admiring the stars.

Once they returned back to the blanket, Lucas bent down to start cleaning up.

Brooke reached out and put her hand on his back, "Wait."

Lucas stood up and turned around to face her. He eyed her curiously.

"Can't we stay just a little longer?"

Lucas nodded and sat down on the blanket. Brooke sat between his legs and leaned up against his chest.

They sat there, gazing up at the stars.

Brooke began to speak softly, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight."

"What did you wish for?"

Brooke shook her head, "Uh uh, if I tell you it won't come true. I do have another wish though, and that one I'll tell you."

"What that?"

Brooke turned to face him. "Make love to me Lucas?"

Lucas smiled softly, leaning his forehead against hers. "Now that is one wish I can grant."


	16. Mean Girls

Chapter 16- Mean Girls

_Oh cuz I don't know  
I don't know what he's after  
But he's so beautiful  
Such a beautiful disaster_

Lucas rolled over and reached out to wrap his arms around Brooke, but she wasn't there next to him. Opening his eyes, he groaned at the sight of her empty side of the bed.

Lucas pulled himself out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He turned, facing the toilet, and was surprised to see a note with his name on it taped to the wall in front of him.

_Broody,_

_Good morning! I figured that if I wanted to leave you a note, the one place you'd definitely see it was right in front of the toilet, well either that or the fridge, but I thought the toilet was funnier._

_Anyways, sorry I had to run out but I forgot I had a meeting with my advisor this morning. I should be back by noon. Don't leave before I go, okay? I'll see you later._

_Kisses,_

_B_

Smiling to himself he couldn't believe she'd taped it to the wall in front of the toilet. That was so Brooke.

They'd enjoyed the past few days of Lucas' visit, but now it was time for it to end. It was Thursday and Lucas had to return to Tree Hill to get ready for another weekend at TRIC. He was looking forward to getting back to work, he hated being away this long, but he was not looking forward to leaving Brooke again.

Lucas had visited with the intention of trying to figure out if he could see himself living in Raleigh with Brooke. But, as the week progressed, Lucas had done little in the way of job hunting or apartment hunting. Instead he'd come to the realization that moving away from Tree Hill, from the only place he'd ever lived, scared him a little bit.

Shrugging it off he headed back into Brooke's bedroom to finish packing up his stuff. He figured that he didn't need to decide right away if he was going to move to be with Brooke. But, deep down though he knew that it wouldn't be long before he missed her so much it would hurt and he'd be right back to where he was now, wishing he'd have the guts to pick up and move away from the only home he'd ever known.

After finishing packing and taking a quick shower, Lucas headed out into the living room to watch some tv until Brooke returned.

It wasn't long before he heard her keys jingling in the door.

"Boyfriend, I'm back."

Brooke smiled as she walked into the room, seeing Lucas sitting there waiting for her.

"How was your meeting?"

"It went well, thanks. I suppose you're all packed and ready to hit the road?"

Brooke asked, trying to hide her disappointment that his visit had to come to an end.

Lucas nodded, "Yep, all ready to go."

"Well then, I'll walk you out." Brooke nodded towards the door.

Normally she'd pout and try to convince Lucas not to go, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good. He had to get back to work, she knew that. She was lucky to have had a whole week with him.

Lucas flipped off the tv, grabbed his bag, and followed her out the door.

After tossing his bag into the back of his Jeep, he turned and pulled her into his arms.

"I had such a great time Brooke. I'll see you again soon."

Brooke looked up at him nodding, biting her lip, trying to fend off tears. This didn't go unnoticed by Lucas.

It broke Lucas' heart to see her to sad, so, against his better judgment, he spoke.

"Well I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to get your hopes up or anything, but I've been considering moving here to Raleigh, to be with you."

Brooke's sad face quickly turned to one filled with anger.

"I didn't ask you to do that."

Lucas backed up, taking offense to her mood swing.

"Woah now, I didn't say you did. I just said I'd been considering it."

"Well don't." Brooke snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay, well, it's been fun." Lucas looked at her with a look of confusion. "I'd better hit the road. I'll, um, talk to you later."

Lucas hopped quickly into his Jeep and tore out of the parking lot. He wasn't sure what her little outburst was about but he certainly didn't have all day to stand there arguing with her about it. He figured he'd talk to her later, hopefully after she'd calmed down.

Brooke watched him drive away and then headed back into her apartment. She couldn't believe him, telling her he was considering moving there to be with her. They'd only been together for a little while. They'd spent years apart. Why would he even consider picking up his life for something neither of them was sure would even work out?

Shaking it off Brooke went into her room, changed into some gym clothes, grabbed her IPod and headed out the door for a run. Hopefully that would clear her head.

The whole drive home Lucas couldn't stop thinking about Brooke's reaction. All he'd said was that he'd been considering it and she lost it. He was shocked. He'd expected some jumping or clapping, at least a 'that's nice.' But no, instead Crazy Brooke reared her ugly head and he was once again lost on what she was thinking. She'd gone on the defensive rather than just letting him know what she was thinking.

An hour later Lucas pulled into the parking lot at TRIC.

"Welcome back Luke."

Mouth called out as Lucas walked into the club.

"Mouth, hey. How'd everything go?"

"Great. We made a ton last weekend. We almost broke the attendance record. And the fire code for that matter. We actually had people waiting to be let in. We got so full we couldn't let anyone in until people left, it was nuts."

Lucas smiled, "That's great. How was the week?"

"Oh, about the usual. Monday and Tuesday were really slow. Happy hour last night picked up a little bit."

"Sounds like I didn't miss much."

Mouth nodded, "Nope, same old. How was Raleigh?"

Lucas shook his head, "It was going great until Brooke went into psycho mode when I left."

"What do you mean?"

"I told her I was considering moving there and she flipped. Told me she hadn't asked me to do that."

Mouth looked thoughtful for a moment, "Now not that I have tons of experience or anything, but maybe she's just scared. I mean here you are, just coming back into her life after all these years, and then you say something about possibly moving, for her. Maybe it just freaked her out a little bit. I mean come on, this is Brooke Davis, queen of non commitment."

"Then why didn't she just say she was scared? Why get all Mean Girls on my ass?"

"Probably because she's also queen of keeping it all inside and not letting you in, in case you've forgotten what happened between the two of you before."

Lucas knew Mouth was right. Brooke wasn't the best at letting him in. He'd thought they were making progress though. He really had.

"Just talk to her man, hopefully she'll open up. But, until then, you can come and help me unload the beer shipment." Mouth patted Lucas on the back encouragingly.

"Where's Junk, that's his job."

"He took the day off, had something to do. Now come on, help me before I get all Mean Girls on your ass."

Lucas laughed and followed Mouth towards the back of the club.

Around 10:30 that night Lucas finally flipped off the screen on his computer. He'd had to catch up on the books for the time he'd been gone. Mouth had been right, they'd done great the previous weekend.

Walking out into the club, Lucas could see that it was filled with the Thursday night regulars. He knew that it wasn't anything his staff couldn't handle so he swung by the bar, where Mouth was talking to a few people, and signaled that he was leaving.

As he walked through the parking lot he reached for his cell phone to call Brooke. He was pretty sure he'd given her more than ample cooling off time.

Just as he went to flip it open, it started to ring. He checked the caller ID and frowned, blocked number, he wondered who it could be.

"Hello?"

"Broody?"

"Brooke? How come your number didn't show on the caller ID?"

"I blocked it just in case you were still mad at me for this afternoon."

Lucas laughed, "No, I'm not mad. Just confused."

Getting into his car, he started the Jeep, waiting for her to continue.

"I know I pulled a Jekyll and Hyde back there. It's just, I don't know. I guess I'm a little freaked out."

"That's okay Brooke. I am too. We came back into each other lives so quickly, it's scary. I understand. I wasn't saying I had the U-Haul packed and a lease signed. I was just letting you know that it was something I've been thinking about."

"I know that. And I love you for it. I just think that…I don't know."

"Uh-huh Brooke." Lucas shook his head. "Don't pull the 'I don't know' on me. You do know, you just don't want to say. You can say it Brooke, whatever it is, you won't hurt my feelings."

"It's just that, I don't want to get all attached and then have you leave again. Trying to get over you was the hardest thing I've ever done, and clearly one of the least successful."

"Then let me in Brooke, don't push me away. I won't leave as long as you don't make me. I know that you said you want to just forget about what happened before, but we can't, not completely. We have to learn from what happened."

Brooke paused for a minute, "Why does this have to be so hard?"

"Brooke, what did you expect? Did you think you'd just show up on my doorstep and then everything else would be fine? It was never going to happen that way. Love is complicated, this will be complicated, but we have to get through it together. Otherwise, we won't get through it at all."

Brooke sighed, "I know. Really, I do. It's just hard to teach an old dog new tricks ya know?"

"I know, but we have to try. Otherwise, this won't go anywhere. We'll end up right back where we left off. So just promise me you'll try?"

"Okay. I promise I'll try. I will."

"Okay, then I promise that I'll stop trying to make this move too fast. We need to both be comfortable."

Brooke smiled, "That sounds good to me."

"Good." Lucas spoke as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. "I'm going to go now, I want to get inside and get settled in. I'll talk to you soon though?"

"Yeah definitely." Brooke paused, "And Lucas?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being scared."

"Don't ever apologize for being scared Brooke. I'm scared too. Just talk to me about it and it'll be okay. I'd rather we be scared together? Okay?"

"Okay. Oh, and Lucas, one more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll try not to get all Mean Girls on your ass again." Brooke fought off giggles as she spoke.

Lucas felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment, "Uh, what'd you mean?"

"I called TRIC looking for you…"

"…and apparently I need to remind Mouth no to repeat _everything_ I say."

Lucas laughed as he spoke. Typical Mouth, trying to be everybody's friend.

Brooke laughed loudly, "Bye boyfriend."


	17. Unforgivable

**Author's note:** Well here it is, the second to last chapter. I outlined the story back when I first started it and worked it out to go with the song lyrics, and well, it's almost the end of the song, and it's time for me to move onto a new story. I promise you an incredible ending. The more reviews I get…the quicker you get the ending.

Chapter 17- Unforgivable

_And if I could hold on  
Through the tears and the laughter  
Would it be beautiful?  
Or just a beautiful disaster_

"I'm headed home Mouth, just give me a call if you need anything." Lucas quickly spoke as he headed towards the door.

"Hey, where's the fire? I've never seen you rush out of here so quick." Mouth called after him.

Lucas just shrugged as he flew out the door.

Hopping into his Jeep, he started it and pulled out onto the street. He was anxious to get home. For the first time in months, he was going to enjoy a night in by himself.

Pretty much every weekend was taken up by time with Brooke. Most weekends Lucas would drive out to see her, but every now and then, especially if a hot band was booked at TRIC, Brooke would head to Tree Hill for the weekend.

Lucas couldn't complain, he loved spending his time with her. Especially since they'd cleared the air about what they both wanted. They were living in separate places, but perfectly content with it. They still spent a lot of time together, but enjoyed their separate lives as well.

Lucas had to admit, it was working out better than he had thought. He really hadn't been ready to pick up and move for Brooke, especially when a part of him still feared she'd leave him again. This way they had the best of both worlds.

Sure, he knew they'd have to someday compromise and live in the same place, but Lucas felt like that point was pretty far down the road. If anything, there was always the chance that Brooke would move back to Tree Hill after her graduation in a couple of weeks. She still had her feelers out for a couple of jobs in Raleigh and Lucas knew that for right now, that was probably the best bet for both of them.

Unlocking the door to his apartment he exhaled and felt himself immediately begin to relax. He'd order in some Chinese and kick back with a couple of beers. He needed a night to himself, a night where he didn't need to worry about Brooke, TRIC, or anything else for that matter.

Lucas was working on his second beer when his cell rang. He curiously looked at the called ID.

"Mouth?"

"Hey, Luke, sorry to bother you on your night off, but I just have a quick question."

Lucas frowned, but put down his beer and focused his attention to Mouth.

"Okay, shoot."

Lucas nodded as he listened to Mouth. It wasn't anything too important, just a little quarrel with one of the bands' managers. Lucas knew Mouth hated handling that stuff by himself. He was always worried he'd make a wrong judgment call and Lucas would get angry.

"No, that's fine with me Mouth. That's how I would handle it myself."

The doorbell rang and Lucas' attention was immediately diverted away from Mouth and to the Chinese food he knew lay on the other side of the door.

"Call if you need anything else."

"Thanks Luke, again, sorry to bother you."

"No problem. Bye Mouth."

Lucas dropped his phone on the couch and headed towards the door.

"I'll be right there." He called out.

He stared thumbing through his wallet as he opened the door.

"What was the total again?" He asked without even looking up at the delivery man.

His question was met by silence and at last he looked up, stunned by what stood before him.

"Brooke? What's going on?"

She stood there, looking so small, in his doorway. Her hair thrown messily atop her head, her body covered in jeans and what Lucas recognized as a sweatshirt that had gone missing from his closet years ago. Her cheeks were stained with tears and Lucas could tell by her eyes that there were more just waiting to spill over.

"I have to tell you something."

Lucas pulled her into his arms. Worry had overcome him, but he pushed that aside trying to afford Brooke some comfort.

"Shh, whatever it is it will be okay." He spoke as he stroked her hair.

After a minute she pulled away and headed over to his couch. Lucas followed her with his eyes, and reaching behind him, he went to push the door shut.

"Uh, sir, your food?" A voice came from the other side of the closing door.

"Huh?" Lucas turned around confused. "Oh yeah. What do I owe you?"

Before the delivery man could even answer, Lucas thrust a $20 at him.

"Keep the change."

Lucas grabbed the food, shut the door, and headed over to the couch. Brooke had curled her knees up to her chest, back against the arm rest. Lucas sat down in front of her.

"Come on Pretty Girl, what's the matter?"

"I have to tell you something. You're not going to like it."

Lucas attempted to swallow, realizing that a lump had grown in his throat which made this very difficult.

"Whatever it is you can tell me."

Brooke nodded and slowly drew in a deep breathe, exhaling just as slowly. It was obvious she was trying to maintain what little composure she still had.

"Well, you know that I've been interviewing for a lot of jobs."

Lucas nodded.

"It looks like I landed one. A pretty good one actually, it's practically my dream job. It's a great opportunity and I know I'd make a ton of great contacts. I know that with this job, in a few years, I'd probably have my own line."

Lucas beamed, "Brooke, that's great. I don't get it though, why the tears?"

Brooke averted her gaze away from his piercing blue eyes, drawing in yet another breathe she spoke softly, "The job's in Los Angeles."

Lucas felt the lump in his throat growing even larger. "Ok, well, that's not the end of the world."

"I know." Brooke interjected, "I'd always planned on ending up in New York, but this is just such a great opportunity, I'd be crazy to pass it up. I mean eventually, yeah, I want to be in New York. But this feels right now."

Lucas reached out and wrapped his arms around her legs, "We'll work something out. We'll be okay. I've always wanted to visit LA, and with you being there I'd have a reason to do it a lot. The club practically runs itself now, so I would be able to take long weekends whenever I wanted."

Brooke began shaking her head, slowly at first, but with increasing ferocity as he spoke.

Lucas noticed this and looked up at her curiously.

"Visits aren't enough. Living an hour away now is hard enough, I can't imagine how it would be with half the United States separating us."

"So what're you saying? You want to end this?" Lucas asked, his demeanor quickly changing from warm and understanding to cold and questioning.

"No. I want you to come with me. I want you to move to LA with me."

Lucas laughed out loud. "Seriously? I can't believe you're asking me this. Just a few months ago I pitched the idea of possibly looking into moving to Raleigh and you flipped. Now you're asking me to move to LA? I don't get it. What's changed?"

"We've changed. We're stronger now. It's obvious that this is going to last. I'm ready to start my life, and I honestly can't imagine doing that without you. I know that this is a lot to absorb, but at least tell me you'll think about it?"

"No. I can't do it." He quickly answered, a definitiveness to his words.

"But why? You were willing to move to Raleigh for me. What's the difference?" Brooke asked, her eyes pleading for an answer she'd be able to accept, an answer that wouldn't break her heart.

"Oh, I don't know, over 2,000 miles maybe? There's a difference between moving an hour away and moving half a country away. I just can't do it Brooke. I can't leave my life here."

Brooke leaned back, crossing her arms across her chest. "There would be jobs for you in LA. I mean, you've run your own club for all these years. The clubs there are bigger, better, you'd find a job in a minute."

"It's not just that Brooke, but my mom, she's here. I can't imagine living so far from her."

"Oh, don't use that for an excuse. She has Keith now, she'll be fine. It's not like you'd never see her again."

"That's not fair. You know how important my mom is to me."

"And what about me? How important am I? This is us we're talking about, our future, finally having a future together." Tears started spilling down her cheeks. "After all these years, I'm ready Lucas. I want to start my life with you. I know, I was scared before, but I'm ready now."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not. I can't just move that far away, too much is uncertain."

Brooke threw her hands up in exasperation and leapt up off the couch. "You don't think you can trust me to stick around for good this time. That's it isn't it?"

Lucas just looked down at the ground.

"When are you going to stop punishing me? Yes, I screwed up Lucas, but I won't do that again. I won't walk away from us again. You need to stop punishing me for a mistake I made years ago."

Lucas stood up, facing Brooke, looking right into her eyes.

"What do you think? Just because you showed up on my door step a few months ago begging me to take you back that it makes it all better? It took you years to get to that door step Brooke, years. That's years I spent hurting, my heart broken because you walked away. That one moment where you knocked on my door doesn't make up for all the moments where the only memory I had of you was your back, walking away from me."

"That's not fair. It was you that walked away Lucas, all those years ago, you walked away."

"Don't give me that! You pushed me away. You wouldn't let me in and now just because you realized that that was a mistake I'm supposed to just up and move thousands of miles away? It doesn't work that way Brooke, it really doesn't."

"Lucas…"

"No, Brooke. Don't. I'm not fighting with you about this. I can't do it. I just can't. I love you, so much, you know that. But I just can't do this, I'm not ready. There are too many 'what-ifs.' I can't move that far with this kind of uncertainty. I'm sorry."

"No." Brooke stamped her foot. She knew she looked like a child, but she saw him slipping away and she couldn't let that happen. "This isn't over. You can't just say no. We have to talk about this. You have to be able to trust me not to leave. I'm not going to leave you again. I'm not going to push you away again."

Brooke looked at him, silently begging him for some kind of response. None came. Slowly she turned, heading towards the door. She opened it, and spoke, not turning back to face him.

"I'm flying out there on Wednesday. I have some meetings to tie up loose ends and go over all the details of the job. I'll want to start looking for a place to live. I should be there for a week. I'll leave you a message with the name of the hotel and room number just so you have it."

She stood there for another minute, hoping that he'd call out to her. But still, he said nothing.

Turning around to face him she knew she had to make one last effort, he was slipping away and she couldn't have that happen.

"You have to stop punishing me. Lucas, you have to stop punishing me. You just have to. You have to stop punishing me." As she spoke she choked back sobs. He still would not look at her.

Finally, she gave up. She knew further pleading would do no good. Silently, she turned, and walked out the door, pulling it shut behind her.

As soon as she heard the door click into place she collapsed against it. Finally allowing her body to be wracked with the sobs she'd been putting all her effort into holding back. She crumpled to the ground, her legs not able to hold her up.

Lucas sat on the other side of the door, staring at it in disbelief. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He couldn't believe he'd pushed her away. He was so scared.

He hated himself for doing that to her, for doing the exact thing she'd done to him so many times before. He pushed her away instead of confiding in her. It made him sick to think that he'd been such a hypocrite.

Lucas could hear the sobs from the other side of the door. He knew he should go to her. He knew he should pull her into his arms and hold her, tell her it would be okay, even though he knew it might not be. He wanted to go to her, but knew his legs would not hold him up if he tried to stand.

Not knowing what else to do he hung his head and cried. She'd pushed him away before and now he was doing the same thing. He'd been able to forgive her, but he wasn't so sure she'd be able to forgive him. Lucas knew he'd hurt her, hurt her deep, and that just might be unforgivable.


	18. Pretty Girl

**Author's note:** Well guys, here it is…the last chapter. I just want to thank everyone for all the reviews throughout this story. I love writing it for you guys and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I promise you all another Brucas fic really soon. I already have an idea and I just talk to kaos about it and she loved it so I hope to start working on that soon. I will tell you this much…it's a future fic and its nothing I've seen done before EVER! So here it is…enjoy!

Chapter 18- Pretty Girl

_He's beautiful  
Lord he's beautiful  
He's beautiful_

There was a knock at the door that brought Lucas back to the real world. He'd been trying to finish some bookkeeping for hours and was not having any luck. No matter what he did his mind drifted back to Brooke and their fight.

"Yeah." Lucas called towards the door, permitting whoever stood on the other side to enter.

Mouth slowly opened the door and stuck his head in.

"I'm done cleaning up and everyone else has gone home. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

Lucas furrowed his brow, it couldn't possibly be that late could it? Looking over at the clock he was shocked to see it was almost 3 a.m.

"No, thanks, Mouth. I'm all set. You have a good night."

Mouth nodded and went to turn away, but stopped himself.

"This is the fourth night in a row you've worked this late. Is everything ok?"

Lucas thought for a minute. He hadn't really told anyone about the fight. He knew how it made him sound and he didn't want to be told he'd been in the wrong. Lucas was pretty sure Mouth would be understanding, but he just wasn't in the mood.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I've just been bombarded with paperwork these past few days. I'm almost through with it though. Thanks for the concern."

Mouth lingered for another minute, knowing that there was more to the story than Lucas was letting on, but he knew that forcing him to talk would do no good so he pulled the door shut behind him and headed home.

Lucas rubbed his eyes and then looked back down at the papers in front of him, willing his eyes to focus. He had to get this done.

Fifteen minutes later Lucas stood up out of his chair. He was fed up and he knew that until he took care of this thing with Brooke he'd never be able to concentrate on work.

ooooOoooo

Brooke collapsed onto the king size bed in her suite and deeply exhaled. Today had been quite the day. She'd spent all day at her new office and she'd met tons of people that whose names she knew she'd never remember. It was all really intimidating, but exciting nonetheless. Truth be told, she couldn't wait to move out to LA and start her life. If only she didn't have to leave someone so important behind.

Brooke hadn't spoken to Lucas since their awful fight a week ago. She'd picked up the phone to call him tons of times, but every time she'd start dialing and then hang up. After all, he was the one who had been wrong so he should be the one to call. Every time her phone rang Brooke prayed it was him, it never was though. She was just about ready to give up on hoping all together, but her heart just wasn't ready to let go.

In order to try and forget about the fight, and the uncertain state of their relationship, Brooke had put everything she had into this trip to LA. She had been apartment hunting all week. That did nothing but make her think of Lucas though, she'd imagine the two of them in every place she looked at. In her free time she was venturing out to get a taste of the night life, but that too made her think of him. Every club she went to she would try to imagine Lucas running. It killed her that every fantasy she had about LA included him. She just couldn't cut him out of her future, no matter how hard she tried.

Sitting up she tried to bring herself back to reality. She'd spent enough time wallowing over Lucas, she wasn't going to do it anymore. Reaching over to the nightstand she grabbed the room service menu. She looked it over and then put it aside, she'd done enough moping around in this room, she was going to take a nice long bath and then go out and treat herself to a delicious dinner. Smiling she got up off the bed and headed into the bathroom.

As she was toweling herself off after her shower Brooke heard a knock on the door. She assumed it was the maid service bringing her up some more towels like she'd requested. After wrapping her bathrobe around her she headed for the door.

Reaching out, she unlocked the door and then pulled it open. She was stunned at the sight in front of her. She wasn't quite sure how to react, so she just stood there, mouth agape.

"I know Brooke, I'm probably the last person you expected to see, or want to see for that matter. But, I came to apologize. I know, I could have just called, but this time it just didn't seem like enough. I screwed up big time."

Brooke crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm so sorry Brooke, I was such a hypocrite…"

"And?" Brooke interjected.

"A jerk."

"And?" She prodded again.

"And?" He was unsure what she wanted him to say.

"And an ass. You were an ass Lucas."

He nodded in concession.

"Yeah, I was an ass. And I'm so sorry. You have to know that."

Brooke uncrossed her arms, but didn't allow her expression to soften. Turning, she headed over towards the couch, allowing the door to swing open a little behind her, letting him know to follow her.

He took the cue and entered her suite, pushing the door shut behind him.

"Wow, they didn't spare any expense." Lucas exclaimed as he looked around the suite.

Brooke said nothing, hoping he'd realize she wanted to get back to the apology. As soon as he looked at her, he realized.

He took a seat on the loveseat across from the couch and took a deep breath. He knew he had to apologize like he'd never apologized before.

"I'm sorry that I did everything I've asked you not to do. Instead of talking to you I just shut you out. I tried to play it off as though I was mad, when that was the last thing I felt. I'm scared Brooke. Plain and simple. I'm absolutely terrified. You've come back into my life so quickly and this just all seems so fast. Despite all that though, I know that without you in my life nothing will ever feel right. I already know that from losing you once and I won't lose you again, I just won't."

Lucas paused and tried to assess Brooke's face in order to figure out what she was thinking. He was relieved to see that her expression had softened a little bit, but it was clear he had a lot of work to do.

"Brooke, I need you to hear this. I was mad at you for leaving me all those years ago, for pushing me away. The anger still lurks in the back of my mind. I guess I feel like if I can cling to that anger I won't get hurt again. I know that's wrong though. I need to let it go. I do need to stop punishing you. It's just that I'm so scared Brooke. And picking up and moving across the country, it's a big deal."

Lucas paused, hoping she'd interject. Finally, she drew in a breath and then began to speak.

"I know it's a big deal. And I'm scared too. I'm scared of moving far away from everything and everyone I know. I'm scared of starting this big job. I'm scared of leaving the apartment that I've lived in the past few years. But more than any of that Lucas, I'm scared that I can't do any of it without you by my side. You're my strength, you've always been. Even when you weren't there, you were always deep inside my heart, urging me on. That isn't good enough though. Not anymore. I need you here, with me, not just inside me."

Lucas nodded. He knew that this was it. This was the moment he had to let go of all of his anger and really open up his heart to her. He knew that if he didn't do it, right now, he'd lose her forever.

"I know. And I want to be here. But before I can commit to that, before I can say that I'll move here, I need you to answer one question for me."

"Anything."

Lucas took a deep breath and reached into his coat. As he got down on one knee before her he started to open up the black velvet box.

"Brooke Davis, will you marry me?"

As he said it he looked into her eyes, and just as he could from the first time their eyes met, he could see right down into her soul.

She began to nod as her eyes clouded with tears.

"Of course."

It was all she could choke out.

He leapt up off the floor and pulled her into his arms.

"I promise Brooke, no more running. It's you and me from now on."

They stood there holding one another until finally Brooke's tears subsided. She pulled away slowly.

"Lucas?" She looked down at the ring box in his hand and bit her lip.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to give you the ring."

He slowly pulled the ring out from its velvet bed and reached for her left hand. He slowly slid the ring down her ring finger and then looked up at her, there were tears running down her face one again but he knew that they were tears of happiness.

She held her hand out in front of her and admired her engagement ring. He'd done well, white gold, round diamond, simple yet elegant. It was perfect. It was the ring she'd always imagined herself wearing.

Wrapping her arms up around his neck she pulled him into her. She looked into those blue eyes and just smiled.

"I love you Lucas Roe."

"And I love you Pretty Girl."

ooooOoooo

His breathe caught in his throat as she started down the aisle on her father's arm. Tears welled up in his eyes. He'd never seen anyone look as beautiful as she did at that moment.

From the back of the church she watched her bridesmaids proceed down the aisle. First there was Emma, her roommate, her best friend, her maid of honor. Following Emma was Haley and then Peyton, her oldest and dearest friends. The violet bridesmaids dresses Brooke had chosen looked perfect on each of them.

As she started down the aisle she could feel butterflies in her stomach. She was nervous she'd trip and fall in front of all of these people, all these people who had their eyes glued on her. Then she looked up and their eyes met. All of her nervousness disappeared and she just focused on those blue eyes.

He was so mesmerized by her beauty that Keith had to jolt him to bring him back to reality. He turned, smiling back at Keith, his best man, and the only man he would ever truly think of as his father. Next to him stood Mouth and Skills, two of the best friends he'd ever known.

He stepped down off of the altar and linked arms with her after her father gave her away. The walked back up on to the altar and stood before the priest.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered her today to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony."

Brooke could barely listen to his words. It was all just so much to take in. She'd dreamt of this day her whole life and here it was, and it was perfect. She'd always wanted the traditional church wedding, and Lucas had been on board for whatever she'd wanted.

Planning the wedding had been hard. They wanted to get married back in Tree Hill, but it was hard planning the wedding from LA. She'd managed to pull it off though. Somehow between working and moving she'd found the time to make her dream wedding happen.

Then of course, there was the dress. She'd designed it herself. Sleeveless, empire waist, pure white satin. It hugged every one of her curves and flowed all the way down to the floor. It was exactly what she'd always wanted.

"Through marriage, Lucas and Brooke make a commitment together to face their disappointments – embrace their dreams – realize their hopes – and accept each other's failures. Lucas and Brooke will promise one another to aspire to these ideals throughout their lives together – through mutual understanding – openness – and sensitivity to each other."

He couldn't believe he was here. He could still remember the first day he'd met her. He had known she was going to have an impact on his life, but the gravity of it was surely unimaginable.

They were so different, they came from different worlds. But somehow, when she was in his arms, he could quickly forget that. Thankfully, over time, she learned to as well. They'd had their share of ups and downs, but none of that mattered now.

"Lucas and Brooke have opted to exchange their own vows. Lucas-"

Lucas turned to face Brooke, looked deep into her eyes, and spoke from his soul.

"From the moment I met you I knew that my life would never be the same. I gave you my heart years ago and I'm so thankful that you've given me yours as well. It hasn't always been easy, but it has always been worth it. I promise to always be there for you Brooke. I promise to hold your hand through the good times and the bad. I promise that I will never leave you. It's you and me forever Pretty Girl."

Brooke smiled.

"Brooke, it's now your turn."

"I didn't know love until I met you Lucas. I thought I did, but what I felt for you has proved to me time and time again that I was wrong. I have never met anyone that could make me feel the way you do. I tried to fight it, all those years ago, and the pain that that caused me just reinforced that we are destined to be together. I also promise to be there, no matter what, holding your hand. You and me always."

Brooke smiled again, trying to fight back her tears. She looked deep into his eyes and saw that he too was fighting tears of his own.

"Do you, Lucas Eugene Roe, take Brooke Penelope Davis to be your wife – to live together after God's ordinance – in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon her your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her as long as you both shall live?"

"I will." Lucas responded, squeezing her hand.

"And do you, Brooke Penelope Davis, take Lucas Eugene Roe be your husband – to live together after God's ordinance – in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon him your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live?"

"I will." Brooke managed to choke out, as she was no longer able to hold back her tears.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur. All Brooke could think about was that she'd finally done it. She'd finally married the boy she'd loved for all these years.

"Lucas, you may kiss the bride."

He stroked her cheek before pulling her into a deep kiss. They'd exchanged many kisses over the years, but their first kiss as man and wife was like no other. It was deep and passionate and filled with love. And, just like their first kiss, it made Brooke's knees go weak.

"I now present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Roe."

The entire church erupted in applause as they newlyweds started down the aisle. They headed out the door of the church and knew they had to turn around to greet all of their guests.

Brooke started back towards the door but Lucas pulled her back.

"Was it everything you've always dreamed of?"

Brooke nodded, "Everything I've always dreamed of and so much more."


End file.
